The American official responded tersely to his interviewer regarding opposition to the ‘star wars’ missile defence scheme in the Czech Republic: “Democracy isn’t about popular decisions. That’s why we have elected officials, who take decisions on complicated matters that may be unpopular”.
This week, in an extraordinary lesson on Democracy – one best delivered to the shameful Irish electorate who so scurrily abused their voting rights recently – the Italian Senate voted unanimously to ratify the Lisbon treaty. Unanimously – not one vote against, or one abstention. That’s democracy in action for you (and a minor miracle, given the usual scuffles in parliament)!
A foregone conclusion, given that – with the exception of the Lega Nord – all parties in parliament had long been in agreement over the necessity of ratifying the thing. Only the churlish would suggest that, given that there was no particular mention of the complex treaty during the election campaign, democracy has been ill-served. The men of parliament (and they are, overwhelmingly men – as this monkey never tires of pointing out) know best on complicated issues. Best not to muddy the waters with debate etc. Unanimous votes are what’s needed in a democracy!
The same parliament voted during the week to give the four highest state officials immunity from prosecution – saving Berlusconi from a probable guilty sentence in his impending corruption case. The measure has been widely described as unconstitutional (a similar measure introduced by Berluska back in 2003 was declared unconstitutional by the constitutional court). But in complex issues like this, our elected officials know best.
The same parliament has been voting to approve various measures by interior minister Roberto Maroni, including the mandatory fingerprinting of gypsy children. The EU suggest it’s racism in action – what would they know about such complex matters. Best for the elected officials to deal with it, though they neglected to mention it during election campaigning.
There’s much to be learned about democracy here.