The results of this vanity project will be out by Thursday this week – for Key, the high stakes game of chicken he is playing with the public will have either two results, he wins his flag choice or he loses it.
If he wins, despite what all the polls have proclaimed and media pundits have said, it means Key will be able to proclaim he has the pulse of NZ and it will herald his march towards a 4th term victory.
If he loses however, it will be the first mis-step he’s made since entering office and it will ignite those tensions deep within National in terms of a leadership battle.
The stakes for Key in the flag referendum are larger than they are for the actual country.
Aren’t you overestimating the meaning of the flag decision? I think the whole flag issue is primarily a distraction, giving people something to talk about to make them less likely to talk about other things. When I recall the flag discussions among people I know I do not remember anyone framing their choice in terms of support for Key or being against Key, it was more about 1) being for or against the Union Jack 2) aesthetics/design. I actually don’t think John Key cares that much about the outcome, once the news-generating effect has been achieved.
the voter count in referendum #2 was just over 1.7 mill as at Fri 18 March, will it reach 2 mill in the next day or two? probably just short of that figure but never mind…
it is not often you get the chance to look John Key in the face and knee him in the nuts
With NZ an official right wing state lets hope the electoral commision has independent scrutineers
KEY WANTS THIS !
The Electoral Commission has been corrupted and are no longer trustworthy, I have no faith in it anymore.
I don’t think they are corrupt, but when serious matters arise they appear to have little teeth.
National’s aim all along is to get control of the Electoral Commission and prevent it doing its legal functions properly.
There are a lot of very good people on the ground who work at elections doing as good a job as fairly as they can.
But in the election hierarchy there is constant political interference in their work.
I know for a fact that around 30 years ago, the Commission wanted to move the electoral headquarters of the Pahiatua electorate for cost reasons.
They were unable to do this because of political interference by the then National Party MP for Pahiatua, John Falloon.
It seems incredible that an MP can dictate to the Electoral Commission where they will do business, but that is what happened.
Didn’t have any enquiry about that, did we?
So in other words, the Electoral Commission has been corrupted. The key National government does have control over the EC, remember, they even changed their rules so National could keep Peter Dunne’s support. There have a number of instances that have shown the EC is corrupt, like I said, I no longer have any faith in it anymore.
I honestly don’t think he cares that much – nothing else has damaged him so why should this?
On the contrary, the media may cynically try to portray his defeat as an act of altruistic bravery. They’ve done worse before.
John Key is damaged goods alright, he just has the msm whitewashing to hoodwink.
Dont think the publics response will be quiet if Key wins flag debate.
The polls show an overwhelming majority want to keep the union flag,If the beach towel flag wins ,rigged without a doubt ,but Key gets away with everything else so he believes he will again this time , if he does and the public protests, hes got his riot squad to enforce it. Job Done.
A failure to bring in a new flag, is Key’s wet dream. It will be the straw that breaks Nats all-vunerable hold on power, and will loose them the General Election. John Key will uncomfortably sit on the back benches for 5 seconds. He will then race off to a ‘retirement job’, that the self-serving American Corporations promised John (not to mention Helen Clarke) for their roles in bringing NZ into submission, ready for the consequences of TPPA
Wasn’t John key’s first misstep and defeat losing National’s safe Northland seat?
Well technically his first misstep was covering up for Mike Sabin and lying about what he knew and when he knew about the whole sordid affair before Mike resigned for “family” reasons. These events then resulted in the Northland defeat.
Exactly, and that triggered the Northland by election that Key rightfully lost.
Notice he’s getting all the other ducks in a row that can bite him on the backside in the lead-up to the election – like the Teapot Tapes defamation (which the taxpayer will be paying for FFS!).
It was HIS – John Key’s personal defamation of the cameraman NOT the taxpayers’ defamation of Bradley Ambrose. Key should pay his OWN f-ing defamation suit money. No-one had their hands up his rear, making his mouth move like a muppet – he, John Key, called the accidental taping a “News-of-the-World” stunt.
Look to see National “settle” with Eminem.
Look to have the prominent Northland individual/friend of the PM case “settle” soon
Look to see National “settle” with dildo companies, who are rumoured to potentially sue the government and Stephen Joyce for bringing their sex-toys into disrepute (under TPPA Chapter 7 SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES OR Chapter 18. Intellectual Property (sic.) ) – PS I do hope that Andrew or Gosman scurry back to NatHQ with this little snippet.
It’s a mad, mad mad world all right.
The whole damn things comes down to the idiots that voted him in.Who’s Sorry Now , might be a new national anthem for NZ
I think Kim Jong Kee has got bigger issues to worry about. That “prominent New Zealander’s” impending court appearance on Monday April 4th for one…
For those who don’t know about Key’s other high stakes game of chicken…
http://www.humanheadline.com.au/hinch-says/a-kiwi-conspiracy
You can be sure that Key (and his MSM sycophants) will drastically downplay his defeat (assumption the existing flag will win here). There will be plenty of platitudes uttered to pretend that it doesn’t really matter after all (which means $26 million plus was spent on something that doesn’t really matter at all) or that it was still a worthwhile exercise because it got people thinking about their future.
B……s! The whole unnecessary and expensive exercise had two purposes: 1. A vanity project for John Key (to get HIS flag chosen – what a rush!!!!) 2. To distract New Zealanders from the corruption, dirty politics and ineptitude that has become a theme tune for this incompetent and lazy National administration.
Let the corporate logo flag be John’s Burial shroud. Amen.
@ slumbergod – hear hear to that.
Can only hope things go from bad to worse for FJK when the “prominent NZer’s” case goes to court next month.
Be interesting to see if the trial is open to the public.
Can anyone explain why the Electoral Commission was sending out blank enrolment forms in envelopes addressed only to The Householder while the first part of the flag referendum was happening? I know this happened as I had promised the family of my neighbour who had died earlier, that while the house was vacant, we would keep the mailbox clear of junk mail. I have never seen this happen before. Aware that you can request an enrolment form be posted to yoj, but have never seen them addressed simly to the householder. What is going on?
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