Monday, May 30, 2011



A good reason to vote for MMP

One of the most memorable pieces of advertising from the original campaign for MMP in the 90's was a Footrot Flats cartoon [sadly not extant on the internet], in which the Dog asks "Want a good reason to vote for MMP? Just look at the people who oppose it".

The same argument could equally be made today. After all, just look at who will be running the anti-MMP campaign: DPF. WhaleOil. A couple of Don Brash's bagmen and Brethren allies. These hollow men are not by any measure supporters of democracy or political accountability. And Supplementary Member, the replacement system they support? I'd call it "FPP in drag", but that's insulting to crossdressers. Contrary to the propaganda, it is not proportional and was rejected by the Royal Commission on the Electoral System as not really dealing with the unfairness inherent in FPP. But that unfairness, the exclusion of minor parties and the granting of disproportionate power to the largest party, is exactly what opponents of MMP seek to resurrect.

MMP has given us accountable government, enacting policies with true majority support. It has given us a Parliament that looks like New Zealand, rather than the Business Roundtable. It has given us real representative democracy that works for the people rather than a mad cult of radical NeoLiberals. If you value that, then you need to vote for it in November. Otherwise, we may well end up with a return to the unrepresentative and undemocratic governments of the 80's and early 90's, inflicting lunatic policies on us without popular support.