Thursday, June 24, 2010

Democracy ... getting it right

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd faces a leadership challenge this morning and is quoted as saying "I was elected to do a job. I intend to continue doing that job." The suggestion was that the "job" he was talking about was that of Prime Minister. However, it seems Mr Rudd could have the concept of democracy in this instance wrong - which is a worry in someone who continues to commit Australia troops to support democracy in Afghanistan and Iraq. He was not elected by the Australian public to lead the country ... his Party elected him as their leader and because the Labor Party ended up with more seats at the last Federal Election, and because he won his seat at the time, he "automatically" took the position of Prime Minister. If he wants to say he was "elected to do a job" then he could admit it was to lead his Party ... and that in a democracy they have the right to choose someone else should they wish to. Or another option is for Australia to become a republic and for him to run for the role of President ... then if he wins, he can say he was elected (to lead the country). (Who knew there were high horses around this early in the morning?)

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