What is it with the right and democracy? In response to tensions in the Christchurch City Council, which have seen councillors criticise the Chief Executive's lavish pay increase and autocratic style, DPF demands that "some or all" of them "must go". Because obviously, the last thing you can possibly have in an elected body is disagreement. No, we should shut it down, sack them all, appoint a dictator.
The fact of the matter is that these councillors are elected. They are there to represent their constituents, some of whom are not exactly happy with their council or its CEO. In other words, they are doing exactly the job we expect elected representatives in a democracy to do. The idea that this justifies the imposition of another dictatorship is as obscene as it is laughable.
What next? DPF will advocate the unseating of MPs who disagree with the government and criticise the public service? Because that is essentially the "problem" here. But in Parliament, we recognise that is part of the democratic process, part of how government is kept responsible to us and held to account. It would be nice if he (and Christchurch’s autocratic primadonna mayor) understood that that applies to local government too.
