Bramhoutenbos.net
Title
B. rambling
Description
Sometimes our much beloved democracy throws us a curve ball. Often enough the result of elections or referenda have unpredicted or odd consequences. Two examples of our time:
In Palestine hundreds of international observers are present to guarantee a free and fair vote. In the first elections in ten years, they judge that these have been held in accordance to domestic legal norms and international good practice. At the same time Hamas manages to achieve a landslide victory. How are we supposed to judge when a violent terrorist movement receives legitimacy through entirely democratic means?
The second example can be found in my own country. In the six months after Wilders, Rouvoet and van Bommel celebrated their victory in the referendum on the European Constitutional Treaty, we have not seen any efforts to engage in a cross-societal debate about the process of European integration. If anything we’ve heard less about Europe in the media after 01-06, with the notable exception of the 1 billion euro reduction in the Dutch contribution to the EU coffers. It seems that the politicians in the opposition figure that they can only win votes by cracking down on the stereotypical image of those ‘Brussels bureaucrats’ instead of drawing up an alternative plan for the near future. Is this what voters deserve after voicing their concerns last June?
