Author: bonanza
Translator: Centaura
Well, it was inevitable. Thé political discussion of the moment is the re-introduction of the Parliament, to replace the Peoples Council (‘Volksraad’ in Dutch). The massive agreement in the Peoples Council about the re-introduction completely moved the thought about a possible vote against it to the background. At such moments a m1n1conomy is needed to remember us about the opponents.
My original plan was to report about the ongoing discussions in an objective way, but the above article of m1n1conomy creates an excellent opportunity to illuminate and possibly take the edge off the criticism. As the actual inspirer of the Peoples Council project, he is the ideal person to start a discussion with.
What plans are in the making? The re-introduction of the parliament, most likely containing 11 members, the re-introduction of the political parties and the preservation of the president choosing his own cabinet.
M1n1conomy claims that, just like during the last period of the Parliament, there will be insufficient members to insure legitimate voting. He forgot about one thing though: members of the Parliament and ministers will no longer have to be elected by the people. It’s up to the leaders of the political parties to decide who gets a place in the parliament and who doesn’t, considering the amount of votes everyone gets. They can even introduce people from outside the politics, whom haven’t been chosen. However, a chosen member with a certain amount of votes will always be able to claim his spot.
Another controversial thought is the possibility of a large amount of traders, who are currently in the Peoples Council, pulling out when the Parliament gets re-introduced. It’s true: they won’t be able to interfere directly in the Parliament itself. However, obviously, when the Parliament is going to be re-introduced, the club ‘Achterkamertje’ will also be back. Just like in the old days, this club could become the place for real discussions again. Traders will also be able to criticize the budgets there.
Besides that, I’d like to nuance m1n1conomy’s point of view. Though it is correct that many traders are now joining the discussions, the massive crowd stays away. The discussions are pretty much always between the same members of the Peoples Council.
M1n1conomy has a point, asking why there are no political parties now. But earlier in his article he already gave the answer himself. The current members of the Peoples Council can be divided in two large groups. First of all there’s the ‘professional politicians’ who are mostly dealing with politics and stuff like that. A second group consists of traders who like to share their opinion in certain discussions like those about the budget (mostly because of self-interest; they want their city to get a lot of money), but have no further political interests. Political parties are not useful for that second group. Parties want to treat more than trade issues, so traders won’t easily tend to start one.
Furthermore, professional politicians aren’t encouraged in any way to start a political party in the current system. Their vote is not as important as in the Parliament-system and their opinions are often too divided to create a ‘front’. The Peoples Council doesn’t do anything about it. The politics in the Parliament-system are harder because the members are mostly professional politicians and have to form groups to be able to obtain a place in the Parliament.
M1n1conomy pretends to know that the supporters of the Parliament neglect the fact that cabinets are now worse. On the contrary: we want to take that aspect of the Peoples Council with us. Furthermore, he says we claim that the Peoples Council is worse. On the contrary: we are looking for a system that combines the good aspects of both systems. The Peoples Council undemocratic? On the contrary: it’s a clear democratic system, while we are now changing into a system with indirect chosen politicians, having a political party between them.
My initial question still remains. Is this about nostalgia for the old system including the Parliament or about a well-thought-out change? My conclusion is simple: it’s a combination of both. Just like the new system will contain a combination of the best aspects from both the Parliament and the Peoples Council.