GUEST BLOG: Ben Morgan – European election results – Why we should care in NZ

Over the weekend Europeans elected their new representatives, turning in increasing numbers to parties at the ends of the political spectrum. Europe polarised in a three way retreat from the centre. Across Europe and in Britain support for the far-right, far- left and Green parties surge. The losers were centrist parties.

This is a very interesting trend that is reflected in New Zealand politics, for months we have heard rumours about a new right wing / Christian / conservative party and in recent weeks this has consolidated into Alfred Ngaro and Hannah Tamaki both offering Christian, conservative options to voters.  Under the radar we also have Vernon Tava and his ‘teal’ Sustainable New Zealand party. It appears that the New Zealand electorate is following the international trend and fragmenting, the centrist rump slowly sliced away by increasingly extreme parties at the edges.

Although unlikely in the immediate aftermath of the Christchuch massacre I predict that it is only a matter of time before the immigration card is put back on the table by a small political party.  This issue has been a feature of New Zealand politics for a long-time and is unlikely to go away.

The retreat from the centre reflects an increasing acceptance of the unreasonable ‘black and white’ dialogue of extremist positions.  Regardless of whether they are right, left or Green, extremists speak in a clear lexicon using terms like good or bad, right versus wrong, victim versus oppressed and their answers to problems are simple.  European electors have looked past stability and tolerance and sought answers in the simplicity of the extremes.

I’m not sure why; maybe voters have become disillusioned or impatient with the centre, maybe the simple ‘black and white’ positions of the extremists have greater appeal or maybe an increasing number of young voters are looking to the extremists for solutions to problems that the centre just doesn’t seem able to address.

The problem with this trend is that within proportional electoral models (like MMP) splitting the vote means that coalitions need to be formed. In coalitions major parties are forced to do deals with minor parties; colloquially known as ‘the tail wagging the dog’.

When a ‘dog’ is being led by its ‘tail ‘it is problematic for democracy because it creates a situation in which the ‘tail’ gets a disproportionate amount of attention and the silent majority’s voice (the ‘dog’s’ head and heart) is dampened.  Many Daily Blog readers may excited at the thought of a far-left Trotskyite party having a balance of power and ‘wagging the dog’,  but I would caution those readers to consider a Christian-conservative party in the same position.

The question is can we do to fight this dangerous trend.

In my opinion we, the voters, need to take back power and ‘stick it to the Man’ by being much more politically involved and expecting more of our politicians.  I’m not talking about reviewing all of their historic tweets, You Tube videos and Facebook posts looking for ‘off the cuff’ statements to take offence at (sorry ‘woke’ generation).  In fact I don’t care if my local MP is having an affair because many of history’s most impressive politicians were terrible philanderers.

No, what we need is politicians with life experience and judgement.  Politicians that are more than just party apparatchiks.  I challenge all readers to look through both major party’s lists of MPs.  If you do you will be fascinated and possibly scared by the number of smiling, unlined young faces whose CVs say something like “worked in x,y.z electorate office / worked for x,y,z party in parliament then worked for party HQ before being selected” . It is not that I don’t think young people can do a great job.  I know they can.  It is rather how can we expect them do the difficult job of governing our state responsibly without demonstrating competence in life. Most importantly how can we expect them to be a responsible check on a future extremist ‘tail’ when their hearts and minds know only party dogma?

Of course the parties will argue that I am just a disgruntled silly old man.  They will say we should have young MPs because the voice of youth needs to be heard.  The central committees and boards that run political parties love young MPs because they are malleable and easily influenced.  A young person in a safe electorate earning approx. $ 180,000 p/a is not going to challenge the party hierarchy. That MP is going to do exactly what they are told.  The secret people in the shadows keep control and we the voters are kept distant from the real decision-makers.

If we are going to buck the trend and check the extremists we need to re-populate the centre with MPs who have life experience and judgement. People who have their own minds.  People that are not swayed by high salaries and dogma but rather by a developed, grown up sense of what is right and what is wrong.  Think of American politicians like John McCain or Ted Kennedy.  One from the right and one from the left of American politics but both centrists.  Both people that had suffered trauma and from that experience had developed wisdom, compassion and an irreducible sense of self.

So the call to action is join a political party.  Take part in selection processes.  Hold the foolish (whether they are old or young) to account.  Demand more from your politicians now because in 2020 we may be needing them to balance a Parliament of extremes.

 

 

Ben Morgan

A free-thinking, Gen X aspiring to write. Seeing some bad places means I value love and reason more than most. 

Particularly interested in moral and constitutional issues and encouraging a more reasoned civic discourse.