Declan Posted January 27, 2007 Share Posted January 27, 2007 I'd favour - 24 mhk's as at present, or in 12 2-member constituencies. 6 - 8 MLC's elected on an all-Island basis. Chief Minister to be an MLC. Elected by Tynwald, but he must declare his intention to stand prior to the election, so that candidates can declare support for a candidate when seeking the public's vote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ponderer Posted January 27, 2007 Share Posted January 27, 2007 I'd favour - 24 mhk's as at present, or in 12 2-member constituencies. 6 - 8 MLC's elected on an all-Island basis. Chief Minister to be an MLC. Elected by Tynwald, but he must declare his intention to stand prior to the election, so that candidates can declare support for a candidate when seeking the public's vote. Certainly an interesting idea. The all island MLC election would then very much focus on national issues with clear candidates putting forward their manifestos for chief minister. Once elected, the CM would then have a stronger mandate to make the difficult national decisions and drive the island forward. How would it avoid the MLCs becoming dominated by a particular part of the island if its an all island vote (Eg Ronague ... or errr Douglas maybe..) ? Why would an MHK not be eligible to stand for chief minister and how would this suggestion avoid creating tensions between the Keys and the new Legco? Indeed the role of the keys would probably become much weaker, wouldn't it - so why would the current 24 want to vote for such a system? It will be difficult to find a system that can secure the necessary broad support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Declan Posted January 27, 2007 Share Posted January 27, 2007 Certainly an interesting idea. The all island MLC election would then very much focus on national issues with clear candidates putting forward their manifestos for chief minister. Once elected, the CM would then have a stronger mandate to make the difficult national decisions and drive the island forward. Yeah that's what I like about it is that the MLC's would have national mandate, without losing the local representation in the shape of the Keys.The CM would still be accountable to the whole Island. How would it avoid the MLCs becoming dominated by a particular part of the island if its an all island vote (Eg Ronague ... or errr Douglas maybe..) ? I'm not sure it would. However, no area has 50% of the population and people wouldn't be voting on local issues. Why would an MHK not be eligible to stand for chief minister An MHK wouldn't be eligible for CM because he would only have a mandate from one part of the Island. and how would this suggestion avoid creating tensions between the Keys and the new Legco? I'm not sure it would. But I'm not convinced that would be a bad thing. Indeed the role of the keys would probably become much weaker, wouldn't it - so why would the current 24 want to vote for such a system? The keys would still have a majority vote in Tynwald, and in the vote for who is to become CM. In any case many of the current 24 would want to consider standing for Legco as a route to higher office. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addie Posted January 27, 2007 Share Posted January 27, 2007 Do we actually need upper and lower houses? Why not one all island election for one house only? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Declan Posted January 27, 2007 Share Posted January 27, 2007 Two problems with that 1. Losing the local link. There needs to be someone fighting Peel, Laxey and Port Erin's causes. The agenda could be dominated by Douglas. 2. Cranks. Unless everyone had 24 votes (and who could be bothered using them all!). It would take very few votes to get the 24th seat - enough that even the BNP or that nutter in Ramsey could get enough for a seat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ponderer Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 Do we actually need upper and lower houses? Why not one all island election for one house only? The local link would be lost - as Declan has already said. Each area needs a member of the legislature who is there to representatives the interests of that area. Also, with only one chamber we would lose a whole range of checks and balances, which may currently be imperfect but are still provided by an upper chamber (and could be improved substantially with appropriate reform). Without a party system a lot of checks and balances are already missing - this would make matters worse. One extra thought is that the upper chamber often has representation from local / regional interests to counter balance the strong national interest of the lower chamber. Would there be a way of providing a connection between reformed local government and the upper chamber? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisner Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 No result today then: Isle of Man Newspapers Website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moghrey Mie Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 No result today then: Isle of Man Newspapers Website Congratulations to speaker Rodan for following standing orders and not browbeating members into electing 'somebody' as has happened before. How much money have we spent on this electronic voting system installed by Manx Radio which can't cope with a simple election like this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skig Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 Not a word about this vote on Manx Radio news at midday or 5.00PM ! Typical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hboy Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 Not a word about this vote on Manx Radio news at midday or 5.00PM !Typical. I see Singer got 5 more votes than he deserved. I cannot see how anyone can vote for this man. The way he has behaved proves one thing. If Karran hadn't made a fuss about him resigning before the election he wouldn't have, and would have been back in his old job 3 seconds after the results were read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Lear Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 The whole system is just such a waste of time - nominations, votes, re-nominations, re-votes and round and round it goes. Perfect for a single tranferable vote - everyone knows they have to get there nominations in for the first round - then people are ranked. If you don't get a minimum threshold you are eliminated and your votes reallocated based on the second choice. Nice and simple - I think even Peter Karren would be capable of ranking the candidates in order of preference. If after all that no one gets the upper threshold then nominations can be reopened, but that will be an exceptional not the usual situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thesultanofsheight Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 Its getting a bit like the Chief Minister vote isn't it? Will the "real" Legco canditates yet to announce themselves please step forward and stop this farce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copycat Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 is it a secret ballot or are we able to see who voted for who ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slinkydevil Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 Its a secret ballot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cholmondley-Warner Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 No result today then: Isle of Man Newspapers Website Congratulations to speaker Rodan for following standing orders and not browbeating members into electing 'somebody' as has happened before. How much money have we spent on this electronic voting system installed by Manx Radio which can't cope with a simple election like this? I don't believe the electronic voting system was used in todays vote for the Upper House, how else would you have spoiled papers? the EV system is a simple yes (for) or no (against) there are only 2 buttons to press, there is no 3rd button for the "I don't know?I don't care" vote. By the way, I am reliably informed that on 3 occasions the Legislative Chamber has proposed that they be elected by popular vote but it is the Keys who have rejected the proposal as an MLC would then have a greater mandate than an MHK. If the people voted for 32 members rather than the current 24 and the Legislative Chamber still exists, then soemone still has to vote the MLC's into power, presumably that task falls to those elected representatives as happens now. The only sensible way is to have a unicameral system instead of the current three branches of government we currently have. My prediction is that this is what will happen, within 10 years there will only be one house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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