MMP 102: Party Hackery in Three Paragraphs

[pnijjar]

Others worry about creating two different classes of MPPs: the 90 members who are tied to a riding, versus the 39 others who, they say, will need to curry favour with the leaders in order to be as high up the party list as possible, thereby improving their chances of winning a seat

Comments

Excellent Point

[linuxluver]

You have to love how little thought has gone into the case against MMP. The verifiable evidence doesn't support the NO case either. List candidates in every jurisdiction I know of are democratically elected to the lists by the votes of party members. This is certainly true in New Zealand, where I have lived under MMP for 11 years.

The fact this is such an issue should make it obvious that any party leader who tried to pull a fast one would be met with a huge amount of opposition. That 3% threshold for winning seats means no leader of a large party could afford to annoy too many members or the will have the option of walking out and competing directly with a new, more democratic, party.