On September 28 when leaders of the three leading political parties in Canada—Tom Mulcair of the New Democratic Party (NDP), Justin Trudeau of the Liberal Party and Stephen Harper of the Conservative Party—arrived at the Roy Thompson Hall in Toronto, there was a large group of protesters. The debate organized by the Munk Centre was about foreign policy prior to the October 19 federal elections. When Harper (current prime minister) arrived, he was booed loudly. The protesters naturally felt very good by expressing their true feelings towards him.
In the Western world, indeed in most parts of the world, elections are a time when people are given an opportunity to get excited and believe they have a say in who should rule the country. If truth be told, among the leading political contenders for power, there is little substantive difference except in how they package themselves and their message. They all follow the commands of their paymasters and ultimately answer to them rather than the electorate. The election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Labor Party in Britain is an aberration and daggers are already drawn to stab him even from within his own party. The British Tories have their work cut out for them.
According to most polls—and they can be widely off the mark—the three leading Parties—the NDP, Liberal Party and the Conservative Party—are virtually neck and neck for the October 19 vote. If this scenario holds, a minority government would emerge but the ruling Conservative Party would still have an advantage because its opponents have to do a lot better to oust it from power. Further, the vote on the left is split between the Liberals and the NDP. The Green Party although with only one seat in the outgoing parliament still garners nearly a million votes eating away largely into the support of the left of centre parties.
In the Western world, indeed in most parts of the world, elections are a time when people are given an opportunity to get excited and believe they have a say in who should rule the country. If truth be told, among the leading political contenders for power, there is little substantive difference except in how they package themselves and their message. They all follow the commands of their paymasters and ultimately answer to them rather than the electorate. The election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Labor Party in Britain is an aberration and daggers are already drawn to stab him even from within his own party. The British Tories have their work cut out for them.
According to most polls—and they can be widely off the mark—the three leading Parties—the NDP, Liberal Party and the Conservative Party—are virtually neck and neck for the October 19 vote. If this scenario holds, a minority government would emerge but the ruling Conservative Party would still have an advantage because its opponents have to do a lot better to oust it from power. Further, the vote on the left is split between the Liberals and the NDP. The Green Party although with only one seat in the outgoing parliament still garners nearly a million votes eating away largely into the support of the left of centre parties.
0 comments:
Post a Comment