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"Protest" political parties.
At the party I attended on Saturday it was suggested there should be a "Muppets" party, with Beeker for PM, and on Facebook there's the Stars for the next prime minister of NZ page.
I've never been a fan of "joke" parties, I would rather see a formal method for people to express a non-vote differentiating themselves from those who just couldn't be bothered. I have been known to spoil a ballot rather than not vote, on the basis that at least those still get counted as something. There was a relatively low turnout this election - but it's impossible to differentiate the truly unengaged from the conscientious non-voters from those who didn't vote because "their party was doomed" from those who didn't vote because "their party was going to win anyway".
There is room for a party with the stated aims of
- being a marker for those who can't find something to vote for in the the other parties or who are loyal to a particular party but just can't bring themselves to vote for them this time around
- attempt to make some sense of why thinking people chose not to vote by polling it's members (encourage discourse)
- note: non-exclusive membership - I don't know if the other parties make their membership exclusive or not but in the age of MMP it makes little sense to do so
If it somehow manages to get above the threshold:
- abstain on matters of confidence/supply, abstain / conscience vote (/poll members for a majority?) on other matters
-- agreeing that stable government is good - not there to oppose government but to be a representation of those who didn't like any of the options
-- (I think any matter can by procedure be turned into a confidence and supply matter, so fine tuning needed)
- draft and introduce a members bill to obsolete the party by having some form of "Do not wish to state a preference" option on ballots. This wouldn't be a no-confidence option in the manner that an electorate candidate would have to beat it, or that would potentially leave empty seats in parliament from the party vote - such ballots would be discounted from those calculations while still enabling disaffected voters to "have their say" via the ballot box.
While I have a number of friends who have indicated hey would support such a party if I started one, I don't presently want to be the sole driving force behind the project. There is enough on my plate right now. I would contribute time/resources/ideas if others were prepared to take on the bulk of the of the heavy lifting though ;)
At the party I attended on Saturday it was suggested there should be a "Muppets" party, with Beeker for PM, and on Facebook there's the Stars for the next prime minister of NZ page.
I've never been a fan of "joke" parties, I would rather see a formal method for people to express a non-vote differentiating themselves from those who just couldn't be bothered. I have been known to spoil a ballot rather than not vote, on the basis that at least those still get counted as something. There was a relatively low turnout this election - but it's impossible to differentiate the truly unengaged from the conscientious non-voters from those who didn't vote because "their party was doomed" from those who didn't vote because "their party was going to win anyway".
There is room for a party with the stated aims of
- being a marker for those who can't find something to vote for in the the other parties or who are loyal to a particular party but just can't bring themselves to vote for them this time around
- attempt to make some sense of why thinking people chose not to vote by polling it's members (encourage discourse)
- note: non-exclusive membership - I don't know if the other parties make their membership exclusive or not but in the age of MMP it makes little sense to do so
If it somehow manages to get above the threshold:
- abstain on matters of confidence/supply, abstain / conscience vote (/poll members for a majority?) on other matters
-- agreeing that stable government is good - not there to oppose government but to be a representation of those who didn't like any of the options
-- (I think any matter can by procedure be turned into a confidence and supply matter, so fine tuning needed)
- draft and introduce a members bill to obsolete the party by having some form of "Do not wish to state a preference" option on ballots. This wouldn't be a no-confidence option in the manner that an electorate candidate would have to beat it, or that would potentially leave empty seats in parliament from the party vote - such ballots would be discounted from those calculations while still enabling disaffected voters to "have their say" via the ballot box.
While I have a number of friends who have indicated hey would support such a party if I started one, I don't presently want to be the sole driving force behind the project. There is enough on my plate right now. I would contribute time/resources/ideas if others were prepared to take on the bulk of the of the heavy lifting though ;)
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no subject
Date: 2011-11-30 02:39 am (UTC)From:Bahahaha, cutting. "Me me me me! Me me me! Me me me me me me me me!".
My first thought on your non-vote idea was, depending on the relative success of the un-party, whether it might start getting too tempting for the MPs elected to weigh in on issues they (inevitably) feel strongly about?
Also, there's always the chance (tiny, but likely increasing over time) that so many people vote for an empty seat that it's not possible for anyone to form a functioning government. Ultimately you could end up with a pure, literal conservative government.
Personally I'd much rather people simply do a little investigation, work out what their dealbreakers are, and find a party (or an individual) that best reflects their values. Under MMP I don't think there's much excuse to "unvote".
Do ALCP have an abstention policy on confidence/supply?
no subject
Date: 2011-11-30 10:00 pm (UTC)From:Fine tuning needed :) But it's something that would need to be firmly understood going into the job, the party rules about actually speaking to issues while wearing (or perceived to be wearing) an MP hat, regardless of personal feelings. It's no different to the way MPs from other parties block-vote.
> Also, there's always the chance (tiny, but likely increasing over time) that so many people vote for an empty seat that it's not possible for anyone to form a functioning government. Ultimately you could end up with a pure, literal conservative government.
I don't see that happening. If such a party as I've suggested gets even 5% of the popular vote it should be a pretty clear sign to the other parties that they need to up their game, or that there is room for a new minor party addressing the issues of some number of those who voted that way.
Note also that if the party got the numbers it would just pass the legislation obsoleting itself, and part of that legislation is that votes cast that way are discounted before the party vote is divied up. So at that point you go back to having 120 active seats, and this additional number which gives the country a clearer idea of just how much of a "mandate" the government really has.
> Personally I'd much rather people simply do a little investigation, work out what their dealbreakers are, and find a party (or an individual) that best reflects their values. Under MMP I don't think there's much excuse to "unvote".
Same, but sometimes "best" is still not "close enough" and a vote counted is better information than a vote spoilt/wasted.
While this party would undoubtedly get a few "I can't decide between X and Y so I'll vote NC instead" that's not who it is intended for.
> Do ALCP have an abstention policy on confidence/supply?
A quick check of their website (http://alcp.org.nz) doesn't show one, but I expect they would support any party who agreed to push through even decriminalisation.