Madam, – That’s democracy, said Fine Gael. But is it? In contrast to many political parties, lots of other democratic organisations have AGMs at which office bearers are (re-)elected for a further term.
Politics, apparently, is different. Once elected, many party leaders – Enda Kenny, Gordon Brown or whoever – are ensconced. For as long as they stay, they are all powerful, hiring and firing (shadow) ministers at will or whim. And there they do stay until something dramatic happens: a resignation, a vote of confidence, or death.
Rather than letting one person select, would it not be more democratic for the parliamentary party, once every parliament, to elect its (shadow) cabinet? By using PR, all factions in the party would be fairly represented. And by using a matrix vote, each appointee would be chosen for that department to which, in the consensus of the party, he/she were most suited.
As it stands, Fine Gael, like many other parties, undergoes a pendulum of behaviour: a divisive, for-or-against vote, and then a cohesive patch-up; that or a (Des O’Malley-type) split. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – With regard to recent events at Fine Gael, could these be described as “having your heave and eating it?” – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Is Revive a Kenny not more appropriate than End a Kenny? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Last week there was a lot of comment and analysis on the so-called urban-rural divide and the Dublin media “bubble”. What we actually saw was a display of much needed real leadership, delivered with passion, conviction and pride. Enda Kenny will make a fine taoiseach and his very personal response to last week’s challenge will resonate with all voters in equal measure. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – In the extensive correspondence regarding the recent failed leadership heave in the Fine Gael Party, I am surprised that nobody has mentioned the obvious fact that Enda Kenny is that party’s insurance against getting into government and having to grapple with the mess left behind by the incumbents.
While it may huff and puff to its heart’s content, Fine Gael appears to have no real answers to the problems which beset this country. Likewise, while Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore obviously aspires to becoming taoiseach, his party seems equally short of positive ideas on how to extricate us from the post Celtic Tiger mess.
Unless the Fianna Fáil backbench manages to screw up the necessary courage to divest itself of a leader who is an even greater political liability than he is a national one, it appears as if we are doomed to continue to suffer from the Curse of Cowen for the foreseeable future. – Yours, etc,