Election of chief minister should be more open, says LVP

Thursday, 26 May 2011 18:51

Voters in the Isle of Man will have a more direct say in who becomes chief minister, and the policies to be adopted by the incoming government, if a proposal from the leader of the Liberal Vannin Party is supported by Tynwald.

Onchan MHK Peter Karran believes anybody who lets their name be put forward for the top job in Manx politics should make a public declaration of their willingness to do so, within 48 hours of the closure of nominations for a general election to the House of Keys.

At the same time, they would have to publish a Statement of Intended National Policies, as well as a personal manifesto of their plans as chief minister.

Mr Karran says at present voters are disenfranchised, and the proposed change would ensure the policies of the government were determined before, rather than after, an election (play audio file):

Under Mr Karran's proposals, voting to elect a chief minister would be entirely open, so everybody would know who each of the members of Tynwald had supported.

Candidates for the position who declared in advance, as Mr Karran is suggesting, would only require a majority of the votes of members present to secure the position.

Those who had not declared their intention in advance would need a more difficult two-thirds majority of the votes cast.

Story uploaded to manxradio.com on October 5, 2010.

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Election of chief minister should be more open, says LVP

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