Our Future is in....a more representative Parliament
April 09 11:50 AM
AUTHOR: Robin Gunston
Who can still remember the other vote we had in the November 2011 election? Did you put the tick into keeping MMP, or going back to FPP? Well as we know the MMP vote won the day and now we have the chance to refine the system before the next election.
This is a first stage approach at redesigning what we have to make it somewhat better.
UnitedFuture has both benefitted from our MMP system since 1995 and also fallen foul of some of the core constructs of how we elect MPs but we still think it is a very good system, we just need to make it better for all Kiwis.
Fundamentally we believe that in a democracy all people deemed eligible to vote should have sufficient choice of those parties and people who represent their political views. Another principle is that all voting should be transparent, i.e. we do not get people elected as Members of Parliament by some devious process that we as voters have little say over. Fundamentally this means that the whole concept of List MPs needs serious examination! At present it is possible for some who have never stood for Parliament to find themselves ushered in and even become Ministers, without their names being on a candidate voting form!
Representation of the people that decide the future of New Zealand is now more assured with MMP than it was in the past, but improving that yet further, to ensure that in your electorate you know who has been elected, and what they represent, is important.
An ideal Parliament should be one that represents our geographic, ethnic and cultural ties, as well as the political spectrum, plus having the right skills and competence to govern- that is a tall order but unless we make this happen by design and not by a lottery, the better all of us may feel on the day after the next election!
If you want to be part of improving our MMP electoral system into something better, then join the centre party that is strivng to give Kiwis an electoral system that is as representative as possible for your future.