OK – a follow up to my other post on elections…
Apparently turn-out across the EU for the elections yesterday was at an all-time low of 44%. That means that less than half of all Europeans could be bothered to go and vote in an election that could, potentially, influence how Europe is run, and therefore how their lives are governed.
In Belgium, voting in elections is compulsory – everyone has to vote, whether they like it or not. I can understand why countries might want to make voting compulsory, especially after the governments of the early 20th century (where people couldn’t vote) – it ensures that the democratic process survives.
However, I wouldn’t have chosen to vote for any of the parties standing in the East Midlands yesterday. BNP – no on principle – I despise everything they stand for! Conservatives – if Ken Clarke was in charge, maybe, but as it is they are a pointless group of politicians who don’t know where they stand on anything. Lib Dems – only party I might be tempted to vote for, but again, they seem very toothless, unsure about their policies. Labour – no chance – I was very anti-war in the first place, and the current fiasco shows that they (he?) don’t know when to cut their loses. UKIP – pah! Robert Kilroy-Suntan really doesn’t do anything for me.
That said, you should still be able to display your opposition to all parties, and still participate in the electoral process… perhaps a “nicht im text” (see German GCSE exams) box would help…?
As you might have guessed, I am very pro-Europe. I believe strongly that the UK should play a strong role in the EU, because, whether we like it or not, we are inextricably involved with our European neighbours, and we should be able to interact with them in the same way as everyone else. (bit wordy there … I started waffling … oh well!)
Anyway, that’s what I think. We can tell from the results, though, that not many Brits think similarly!
