Sitting through a day of
hearings with the Electoral Commission engenders only one emotion – despair. One
of those giving evidence today, a member of the original Clothier Panel quoted
a fellow colleague who cautioned him “John, what we are doing now could take 50
years to realise.” I am not sure how much patience readers have, but on that
time scale, waiting for democratic reforms, we will all be dead.
There was one glimmer of hope today when the Chairman mentioned the figure 10%. It came out of the blue, but it was clear the penny had dropped. The specific reference was to an international standard that said a variation in population between electoral districts of more that 10% was unacceptable. The point is that those who dream of tinkering with the edges of the ancien régime, so that everything remains exactly the same, need to think again. There are international standards that expose Jersey's States Assembly and electoral system as having serious democratic deficits. That thought had the Chairman worrying and rightly so.
So here is a song from Sam
Cooke to give us some more hope. One has to understand it is sung in the context
of four hundred years of colonial slavery, the consequences of which are with
us today.
I was born by the river in a little tent
Oh and just like the river I've been running ever since
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will
It's been too hard living but I'm afraid to die
Cause I don't know what's up there beyond the sky
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will
Oh and just like the river I've been running ever since
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will
It's been too hard living but I'm afraid to die
Cause I don't know what's up there beyond the sky
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will
I go to the movie and I go downtown
Somebody keep telling me don't hang around
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will
Then I go to my brother
And I say brother help me please
But he winds up knocking me
Back down on my knees
There been times that I thought I couldn't last for long
But now I think I'm able to carry on
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will
Somebody keep telling me don't hang around
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will
Then I go to my brother
And I say brother help me please
But he winds up knocking me
Back down on my knees
There been times that I thought I couldn't last for long
But now I think I'm able to carry on
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will
It's certainly a long time since 28 September 1769 but the officially destroyed record of that day in the Royal Court ledger can now be seen on-line on the www.electoralcommission.je website.
ReplyDeleteEverybody who has any interest in Jersey politics and the development of democracy should look at this - look for the submissions section and scroll down to Dun Michael (4) (24 August) and be amazed. Now two centuries later what are WE going to do about it - shall Friday 28 September pass by yet again this year? This day this year should be JERSEY REFORM DAY but it won't happen unless some collective action takes place...
Dun Michael (3) and (2) and Dun Mike submissions on the same Electoral Commission website also give information on the history of 28 September 1769, the grievances of the Islanders then (including the 27 Articles Petition to K George III) and much much more...
What more do you need to get MOTIVATED in 2012 you bunch of bankers?
You are right to talk of 'despair'. In tonight's JEP editorial, what is left of Jersey's Establishment plunged new depths in their despair. The writing was sheer and brazen propaganda that would have made even Putin blush
ReplyDeleteJersey Evening Pravda