Seanad Report Special: Ingrates! June 21, 2012
Posted by WorldbyStorm in Irish Politics.trackback
Trust Stephen Collins to characterise three LP Senators voting against the Coalition and with FF/SF and Independents as a ‘crack in the Coalition’. If it were over any other issue than the one it was one might be a quarter inclined to believe that rhetoric, but trouble is the issue they decided to go apostate on was the following:
The crack in the Coalition came on a Fianna Fáil motion calling for the future of the Seanad to be considered by the constitutional convention, which is to be established next month.
The Labour Senators joined Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin, the Independents and most of the Taoiseach’s non-political nominees in voting against the Government. The Fianna Fáil motion was carried by 26 votes to 23 with Fine Gael and the majority of Labour Senators voting against.
Note that this is implicitly about the retention of the Seanad rather than its abolition (I’m broadly in favour of the former if the manner in which it is composed is entirely reworked).
And as Collins also notes:
The Coalition has committed itself in the programme for government to holding a referendum to abolish the Seanad and the issue has been excluded from the remit of the convention. The original commitment to abolish the Seanad was made by Taoiseach Enda Kenny while he was in opposition.
But why this issue? And why now? And why does it all seem a little self-serving?
But for some of us as interesting is the manner in which the Taoiseach’s nominees, not as Collins would put it ‘non-political nominees’ (after all one jumped, or is it ran, to Fine Gael not that long ago), but simple nominees voted with the opposition. There’ve been other small acts of apostasy too on their part. And there’s gratitude for you! Enda Kenny might be wondering did he get the right list when he made the nominations.
None of it matters in the slightest, though it might signal a certain disquiet as regards the policy direction of the Government in relation to the Seanad. But I can’t help but think that if a referendum were held anytime in the foreseeable future on the life of that body it would be curtains for it.
I can anwser that question, enda kenny has been talking to David Cameroon yesterday, and himself and obama and mr kenny have cooked up a better plan, with Seanad out of the way, Alan shatter can sign his defeated kangaroo courts and Oireactas that we all voted no on, well they need to change the judical system so that when they plan their tax corruption and bailouts that they are protected from any wrong doing, but Seanad in Oireactas is preventing them from their little dirty tax dodge plan, because they cannot do anything unless they Oireactas approves of it, so you see they need a clear way passage but Seanad and Oireactas gets in their way of their little dirty plans of corruption like Cameroon and Obama are at, kenny wants to be a great part of this along with Noonan, howlin, bruton, Richard burton, Leo varadakar, pat rabbit, eamon Gilmore, and others with their secret meetings on Friday evenings on their own in Endas office,
After reading that, all I can think of is Varadkar, Gilmore, and Rabbitte in sleepsuits passing a torch around and telling ghost stories: ‘The TD who promised to get his constituents social welfare but couldn’t…Ooooo.’
Also, when has the Seanad done anything except act as the government poodle or been a second prize for failed party candidates?
They also have plans to change all the constitutional bit by bit, like the Americans and Britain have done, their constitutional is almost a complete in USA and Britain just 5 more to go, eu wants to make sure that they are covered, and every message they recieving has to be deleted or shredded, so that no evidence or documents can connect them to andpy conspiracy or corruption, don’t ask me how I know all this, but take my word for it, it is the truth, rita
The results of the recent Icelandic elections to determine the members of the Constitutional Convention schedule to open next month were nullified today by the Icelandic Supreme Court. The election drew 522 candidates for 25 slots, and the resultant logistical nightmare ruled to have violated Icelandic election law.
The voters’ right to privacy was violated, it said, because the ballots were numbered (presumably to ensure that each voter got only one ballot). This theoretically could have permitted an election official to identify which voter cast which ballot, though there was no evidence that this in fact happened. The court also found that the open election booths and election boxes did not adequately shield the voters’ choices, though again there was no evidence that this actually happened.
The Court also found significant faults with the election’s implementations. For example, a special candidates’ representative was not appointed, and the counting of ballots did not take place “before open doors,” as is required by law.
Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir said she was disappointed with the ruling. “We now face having to make decisions about the next steps. They can be a few, and Alþingi will consider what steps to take in this position,” Sigurðardóttir said in a statement. She said one of those would be to cancel the Convention, but “I don’t think that’s an option at all.”
It would, of course, be possible to hold another election, but the first election was heavily criticized as not being a good use of public funds and energy. It would also be possible to simply have the Parliament elect 25 constitutional representatives — possibly those who were elected — if it is considered that their democratic mandate was sufficient.
Sigurðardóttir said that the Prime Ministry Committee, the Ministry of the Interior, and the National Election Committee would review the situation, since the preparation of the Convention was under their purview to begin with. She said all possible solutions would be considered in order to hold the convention. “The Constituional Convention will not be taken away from the nation”
The Supreme Court’s decision was received with great satisfaction by members of the conservative Independence Party (IP), who had voted against the special law authorizing the Constitutional Convention. They called it an expensive experiment that failed.
“Why was the Constitutional Convention implemented? Wasn’t it because Alþingi has for decades given up on trying to change the Constitution, with the Independence Party at the forefront? The conservatives are terrified of the Constitutional Convention,” Prime Minister Sigurðardóttir said, adding that Conservatives feared that the Convention will constitutionally guarantee national ownership of the country’s natural resources, a subject that has been at the forefront of the national debate due to suspicious energy deals with foreign investors.
Robert Marshall, chairman of the parliament’s Supreme Committee said that canceling the Convention, which was to begin next month, was out of the question. In his view, two options were available: for Alþingi to confirm the election and the candidates that were selected, or to repeat the elections.