Abusing Democracy
13/05/08 22:09 Filed in: Politics
| Lisbon
Treaty
It had to
happen. A local protest group has hitched their
trailer to the anti-Lisbon Treaty
wagon.
Activists in Roscommon campaigning for the
retention of hospital services in the county town
have urged their supporters to reject the Lisbon
Treaty as a way of getting the government's
attention.
Now I am glad that Ireland has a written constitution, even when it means holding a referendum on something or other almost every year. However, it does leave us vulnerable to political gobshitery such as this. We are the only electorate in the 27-member EU who will have the privilege of voting on whether or not we approve of the Lisbon Treaty. Therefore we should cast our vote based on our opinion of the treaty, and that alone. Using it as a proxy to highlight a completely separate issue is immature and an abuse of the democratic right we are privileged to possess.
Now I am glad that Ireland has a written constitution, even when it means holding a referendum on something or other almost every year. However, it does leave us vulnerable to political gobshitery such as this. We are the only electorate in the 27-member EU who will have the privilege of voting on whether or not we approve of the Lisbon Treaty. Therefore we should cast our vote based on our opinion of the treaty, and that alone. Using it as a proxy to highlight a completely separate issue is immature and an abuse of the democratic right we are privileged to possess.