http://hilltimes.com/page/view/subsidies-03-29-2010
An idea whose time has come...The idea is to make political parties more dependant and reflective of their membership by removing all other sources of funding, including corporate and union donations.
I can't say that I'm surprised that the Conservatives would resurrect this policy. Of the 5 major parties, they are the ones that are both the most and the least affected by this policy. The Conservatives raise roughly the same amount in donations as the other 4 parties combined, and as a result, would be better capable of fighting an election campaign against any other party without the subsidy. They also bring in substantial dollars from the subsidy as well, meaning that they would be less capable of maintaining their election readiness between elections as they have been doing for the last 4 years.
The net result though is that the Conservatives are simultaneously trying to cripple their opponents while making a populist show of detaching from the public teat. While many people would not applaud this move, mostly those people who would not vote Conservative regardless of what they do, many people will applaud this move, precisely because it will have the effect of pushing parties to adjust their platforms to be popular for a segment of the population or die. It no longer allows parties to rely on the government to feed their hunger.
Personally, I applaud the move and hope that the Conservatives will look at more reforms to ensure that political parties are accountable to the people who elected them, and not the people they oversee.
Banishment of party affiliations anyone?
No comments:
Post a Comment