Editor:
Re: System fuels false majority, June 8 letters.
Proportional representation leads to minority governments with secret negotiations after the election to cajole or blackmail other parties for support in the lust for power.
Then the phony excuses for failures of promises – i.e. the other party wouldn’t agree.
In Germany, for many months, nobody knew who was really in charge, a crisis. Scandinavia taxes at least 150 per cent ours and some schooling starts years later.
Any variation on proportional is no longer such. Lumped ridings, three, five or 10 old seats have different percentages or proportions to be elected. Small parties with 10 percent or less of total provincial vote wouldn’t have a chance; independent candidates nil.
The NDP and Greens can’t even advise how it will work. They, and no one else, will decide how many ridings, which are lumped together and what percentage to get elected.
And for some ridings, the parties decide who in the party gets the seat, not you the voter. It’s like buying a car or house and not being allowed to drive or inspect it, but you have to take the seller’s word how it works.
Remember, with a vote for sake of change, many times you get a turkey, whether it’s an electoral system, politician or payroll system. Some sore losers always propose systems with more problems than now. Every time, my vote has counted, though my preference sometimes lost.
Most majority governments are far more efficient in making decisions, whether those decisions are right or wrong.
Al Lappi, Surrey
