Thursday 1 November 2012

The covert campaign has begun


Comrades,

In the next few days I will publish my submission to the Electoral Commission, but in the meantime I want to urge you all to get in contact with them yourselves.

They are accepting new submissions on their website until the 23rd November on their interim recommendations. You can write one on their website here, or email one to them at this address - ec@gov.je

They accept all sorts of recommendations, long or short, on all the issues or on just one issue, anything. So don't feel like you shouldn't submit something just because you don't have a huge amount to say or nothing new to contribute.

Even just a short message to say you agree with comments made by another submitter are good and show the commission what people think.

As has been clear by the unexpected contents of their interim report, a positive public lobby can be effective and can make a difference.

I'll be making the points the commission is actually deliberately providing for an opportunity for Jerseys system to become less democratic and is deliberately offering an option for reform that is in direct conflict with their own principles and that they should have the courage of their conviction to fully endorse their proposition of a single class of member in 6 super constituencies.

I'd urge everyone to write a submission to them making these points too. As always, I'm happy to help anyone wanting to do so, just drop me a line at either smezec@hotmail.com or reformjersey@gmail.com.

Further to that, I'd also urge everyone to come to the public meetings scheduled for the next few weeks to air their views directly to the commission and make sure that the meetings aren't dominated by the usual suspects or those with vested interests.

Here is the schedule for the meetings -

DateLocationTime
Tuesday 6th NovemberSt Brelade’s Parish Hall7 pm
St John’s Parish Hall7 pm
Wednesday 7th November St Helier Town Hall7 pm
Trinity Parish Hall7 pm
Thursday 8th November St Martin’s Public Hall7 pm
St Clement’s Parish Hall7 pm
Tuesday 13th November St Ouen’s Parish Hall7 pm
St Peter’s Parish Hall7 pm
Wednesday 14th NovemberGrouville Parish Hall7 pm
St Mary’s Parish Hall7 pm
Thursday 15th November St Saviour’s Parish Hall7 pm
St Lawrence Parish Hall7 pm


I'm going to be at the meetings in St Brelade, St Helier and either St Clement or St Martin. So feel free to approach me for a chat there.

Those that care about democracy in Jersey need to realise that the debate is starting now, and the argument is by no means won. All you have to do is check out the letters to the editor in the JEP to see that those against a modern democracy in Jersey are preparing to fight. We've already had really strange letters from Knights and Ladies and those with initials rather than first names. Some decrying the "burden of government " (that's that horrible oppressor that provides us with an education system, police, nurses and those other terrible burdens), Don Filleul saying he supports the commissions recommendations (but with the Constables, which is actually against their recommendations), and the Knight and Lady who don't seem to realise that if their Constable is so wonderful they will certainly not be denied the opportunity to vote for them as a Deputy into the States too.

I don't particularly want to write to the JEP any more, but I'd urge anyone else who wants to put forward our point of view to write to them and make these points.

We also have Senator Farnham, who campaigned against the reduction in the number of Senators, who is now asking for a referendum on the Senators. If we are going to have referenda on the minutia of details on reform (which I am totally against for the reasons I outlined in my previous post), personally I would rather it were on the Senators than the Constables (whom should not even be considered to have a place in the new format of the States), but he let himself down by making a rather ridiculous point that the commission can't possibly consider removing the Senators without consulting the public. This, despite the fact that there has been consultation going on for months now, which he actually took part in! You couldn't make it up.

But most disappointingly we have even had some people, who could otherwise have been allies, determined to cynically stand as a lone voice in opposition to virtually everything that happens and lie about Reform Jersey. We've even been accused of being a phoney group led by current States Members seeking to conspire to implement a package of reform that's sole purpose is to provide for greater pensions for themselves! I can only imagine what provokes someone to concoct a pack of lies so fanciful as that. I'm 21 years old for goodness sake, what exactly do I stand to gain from being a puppet like that?

Finally, I just want to point out the new tab at the top of this page linking to an archive I'm trying to compile of various media clips relevant to Reform Jerseys campaign and other things I'm politically involved in.


Cheers everyone, thanks for reading and thanks to everyone that continues to make valued contributions!

Sam

13 comments:

  1. Well done Sam. Keep up the god work. I look forward to seeing you on Tuesday at St Brelade's Parish Hall. A shame they could not hold it at Communicare as I suggested, so more people could attend. Still, we press on.

    Good post.

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    1. Sam doing God work? Seems unlikely , but he does move in mysterious ways!

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    2. Haha, I do my best! My birthday is actually the day after Jesus birthday, so maybe that has something to do with it?

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  2. I'll try make it to the town hall meet. If not that one then I'll try make arrangements for another?
    Would I be allowed to speak in a parish I'm not resident in?

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    1. I hope so, because I'm not going to be able to make my Parishes one.

      Usually at Parish assemblies you can't speak unless you're a parishioner, but I don't think these count as Parish assemblies because they're being chaired by the Electoral Commission and not the Constable, so it should be okay!

      Just make sure you start whatever you say with "I'm a proud Jerseyman!" haha

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    2. These are not Parish meetings, merely meetings of the Electoral Commission held in the Parish Halls. One hopes that in St Peter no one pulls a stunt and tries to hold prayers before. It is to be assumed that the meeting will be chaired not by the Constable or any other official but by the members of the Commission itself. As a consequence those who wish to speak should not be restricted by where they happen to live. We must get away from this parochialism

      The choice of venue is of course politically significant. It will attract all sorts of Parish Loyalist telling us how much the Constables are needed as a type of representative. None of it will have any credible intellectual basis. The meeting in St Brelade would have been better held in Communicare where it is larger, has better parking and is close to the main urban area - Quennevais Estate, allowing residents to walk. But no, it being held in the Parish Hall because that all aids the sentiment towards parish and retention of Constables. You get my drift.

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    3. Which is exactly why it's important for as many of us on our side of the argument to try and get down to them and make sure the debate isn't hijacked.

      On that note, Deputy Tadier has arranged for some minibuses to take people from Communicare to St Brelades Parish Hall for those that otherwise wouldn't be able to get there.

      Limited space of course.

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  3. Sir,

    Great work. Keep it up. However, 'Comrades' is probably not the best way to start a blog if you want to be taken seriously.

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    1. I don't know really, you may have a point. I've actually given speeches in the House of Lords and to a group of States Members addressing them as "comrades" and they all seemed to like it. Some Tory MPs that spoke after me on both occasions even did the same.

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  4. Switzerland has survived with less crime and higher living standards and has completely missed the destruction of 2 World Wars and completely AVOIDED the current illegal wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the terrorist bombings that would inevitabley follow (thanks to our government sponcered terrorists) and they managed to do all this WITHOUT A “DEMOCRATIC” GOVERNMENT

    Officially the Swiss Confederation (Confoederatio Helvetica in Latin, hence its ISO country codes CH and CHE), is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons. its Federal state, with parliamentary system and direct democracy .Direct democracy, classically termed pure democracy,[1] comprises a form of democracy and theory of civics wherein sovereignty is lodged in the assembly of all citizens who choose to participate. Depending on the particular system, this assembly might pass executive motions, make laws, elect or dismiss officials, and conduct trials. Direct democracy stands in contrast to representative democracy.

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  5. Sam, you are like a breath of fresh air, it will not be long now before the Establishment try to discredit and destroy you, they will view you as a serious threat!

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    1. Raymac, that's complete nonsense. Sam presents rational and reasoned arguments, demonstrates a willingness to learn (and admit where his knowledge is deficient ) and doesn't feel the need to resort to petty name calling, innuendo, twisting the truth for his own agenda or suggesting some unsubstantiated conspiratorial nonsense.

      Your message on the other hand is demonstrative of why most blogs (and bloggers) are so easily dismissed. Your comment adds nothing of value to the discussion other than encouraging other idiots to perpetuate the divisive them and us mentality.

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  6. I am not so sure that Raymac`s comments are nonsense, the most articulate, intelligent and one of the best orators I have ever heard in the States, namely Stuart Syvret was demonised, admittedly, he shot himself in both feet by leaving Jersey for six months, had he remained in the Island and stood as Deputy instead of Senator, then he would currently be a States member, but long before that, he wasseen as a major threat to the Establishment party, victimised and treated abominably!

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