Changing Politics
By Owen Ensor, University of St Andrews Liberal Democrats
Monday 28th September 2009
Monday 28th September 2009
I have a new found appreciation for politics in Britain. Spending part of the summer in the South African parliament gives one a unique view of politics in the most developed nation in Africa. It is divided by race and maintained by fear.
In this year’s general election the African National Congress (ANC) won 65.9% of the vote. Their MPs enjoy unlimited remit to say and act as they wish, safe in the knowledge that re-election is inevitable. In a defence committee meeting on illegal arms deals I was truly shocked to find ANC MPs stating “Zimbabwe should be armed to the teeth, now… they are defending the revolution,” another continues, “Iran is under the onslaught of imperialism and needs weapons to defend itself.”
Not only do MPs have no constraint on what they say but also how they act. The minister of human settlements gets a helicopter to work; money is wasted hosting MPs in five-star hotels and corruption is rife throughout local government. How can they justify this? There is no need. The, predominately white, opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), tirelessly raise issue after issue only for the ANC to continually reply that “the DA is a racist organisation; it is only because you hate black people and want to bring back apartheid that you criticise the ANC.”
But surely the electorate will not continue to support such opinions? They will not continue to support MPs who do not do their job and do not represent the needs of the people? However, it is worth remembering every voter was born under the apartheid regime. Memories of racial oppression are fresh, as a former inmate of Robben Island puts it, “this is not history, this is what happened yesterday.” Many voters refuse to vote for a white person out of distrust.
Furthermore, many people do not realise that MPs should be accountable to them. A friend describes how she had to describe to her friends that it is their money that is being spent by MPs. Luckily in Britain we are not divided by race and we are not in fear of the past. Politicians in Britain are continually constrained by the electorate and our expectations.
It is our responsibility to maintain this control. However, in our previous general election almost 40% of people did not vote. Many of those who did vote, voted without an awareness of party stances and policies. If we want to maintain some control over our MPs we need to challenge ourselves to become more involved in politics and to learn about current affairs. It is imperative that we do this in order to preserve politics as we know it.
The society’s first event of the year will be a wine social on 1st October in lower Parliament Hall with Tavish Scott, the leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats.
In this year’s general election the African National Congress (ANC) won 65.9% of the vote. Their MPs enjoy unlimited remit to say and act as they wish, safe in the knowledge that re-election is inevitable. In a defence committee meeting on illegal arms deals I was truly shocked to find ANC MPs stating “Zimbabwe should be armed to the teeth, now… they are defending the revolution,” another continues, “Iran is under the onslaught of imperialism and needs weapons to defend itself.”
Not only do MPs have no constraint on what they say but also how they act. The minister of human settlements gets a helicopter to work; money is wasted hosting MPs in five-star hotels and corruption is rife throughout local government. How can they justify this? There is no need. The, predominately white, opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), tirelessly raise issue after issue only for the ANC to continually reply that “the DA is a racist organisation; it is only because you hate black people and want to bring back apartheid that you criticise the ANC.”
But surely the electorate will not continue to support such opinions? They will not continue to support MPs who do not do their job and do not represent the needs of the people? However, it is worth remembering every voter was born under the apartheid regime. Memories of racial oppression are fresh, as a former inmate of Robben Island puts it, “this is not history, this is what happened yesterday.” Many voters refuse to vote for a white person out of distrust.
Furthermore, many people do not realise that MPs should be accountable to them. A friend describes how she had to describe to her friends that it is their money that is being spent by MPs. Luckily in Britain we are not divided by race and we are not in fear of the past. Politicians in Britain are continually constrained by the electorate and our expectations.
It is our responsibility to maintain this control. However, in our previous general election almost 40% of people did not vote. Many of those who did vote, voted without an awareness of party stances and policies. If we want to maintain some control over our MPs we need to challenge ourselves to become more involved in politics and to learn about current affairs. It is imperative that we do this in order to preserve politics as we know it.
The society’s first event of the year will be a wine social on 1st October in lower Parliament Hall with Tavish Scott, the leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats.
