You just have to laugh (cynically) – not only because people fell for it, but because he got away with this brass-necked lie
PEOPLE TO VOTE FOR MEMBERS ON GOVERNMENT BOARDS
The Malta Independent, Saturday, 26 January 2013, 17:21
The people will be asked to nominate and vote for some members on government boards in a system similar to the election of the boards of listed companies, Labour leader Joseph Muscat said in Gozo this afternoon. The pilot project would see individual seats on authorities and entities open to online nominations and voting, Dr Muscat said.
Voting parameters have yet to be set, he said, but the system would be in place as soon as possible under a Labour government.
He said PL open governance proposals include draft legislation published for online consultation, with the government making extended use of social networking sites to encourage and receive policy suggestions.
“We want an accountable, transparent government, and we’re not afraid of letting go of some power to open government up beyond politicians,” he said in Ghajnsielem.
The idea is about improving access to public boards and entities while embracing the Freedom of Information Act. Consultation will be wider and more effective. Meanwhile, feedback people give through social utility sites and the internet will be taken into consideration before Parliamentary debates.
The initiative will be rolled out in a pilot project and people will have the possibility to vote by means of the internet.
This is a revolutionary way to open up government structures, he noted.
Individuals can also nominate themselves if they feel they can contribute. While the paraemtres for such nominations will be quite wide, he added the eligible individuals must have a proven track record.
Moreover, he believes votiong should be open to all tax payers.
The main challenge is that a good number of documents will be too technical however, a PL government intends to make summaries available. Pressure groups too are often instrumental to explain things, as was the case with ACTA, he said.
7 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-01-26/news/people-to-vote-for-members-on-government-boards-756449301/
Right, so we will end up having to choose from a bunch of budding/failed politicians, opportunists and popularity seekers on the Boards. Well, that’s what we have now anyway, so what’s changing?
Well to be fair he did say that ‘voting parameters have yet to be set’.
Looks like that’s been taken care of now.
Ah, the days when he was stuck to a podium. All he had to do was read a teleprompter.
In PL Movement parlance, “as soon as possible” means certainly not during the first six months of governing by which time there would be few vacant plum jobs on government boards to be filled and voted for “in a system similar to the election of the boards of listed companies”.
The People voted Joseph Muscat into power. That’s a measure of what sort of boards we’d get if The People chose those too.
That was British humour.