A "New Dawn" for island politics?

Wednesday 14 March 2018

Around 100 people turned out to a public meeting last night, as the three deputies behind the island's first political association presented their plans.

Deputies Carl Meerveld, Joe Mooney and Peter Ferbrache put their plans for a revolution in how the States worked to the crowd and received what appeared to be a wholly positive response.

The association will heavily involve the public, support Island Wide Voting, and look to give local power back to the Douzaines.

The three announced they would be forming the political association several weeks ago, a number of weeks after it was announced they would all be joining Charter 2018, another, larger, group of Deputies who will be working together inside of the States for the remainder of this term.

But the plan for this association is to get the ball rolling and have it around "for generations in the future".

"Some people have asked us why we are trying to fix what isn't broken, but unfortunately we are of the mind that the current States is not working as it should. Our political system is an ongoing experiment going back to the 1900s if you really think about it, with changes constantly along the way. We are saying it needs changing again now," Deputy Meerveld said in the opening of his presentation.

The three Deputies' plans include bringing members into their association who may pay membership fees or donations to fund its actions. It will also ask for volunteers to help it with all aspects of its operation.

But Deputy Ferbrache emphasised the fact that they were not starting this association for their own gain, but rather for it to be a vehicle to improve public communication from within the States and also give more input to the people.

He said none of the three of them would be the president of the association, and while they would have input and already had ideas, it would create its own constitution. But the three Deputies agreed the president should probably have either political experience or be a serving Deputy - though emphasised it was not going to be a mandatory requirement.

Its full structure will be as follows:

Why is it not a party?

One of the main questions that has been asked of the association since it was announced is if it is a party in everything but name. Deputy Meerveld highlighted the differences in his presentation.

"A party has a hierarchical structure, and the politicians within it have to follow the party line, with a whip in place to tell them if they didn't, and they are also precluded by contract from being in another party - a feature of both Labour and the Conservatives," he said.

"We are a coalition of independents, with a consus, but no party whip to make sure we follow one line. We will have access to polls done from the members to see what they support. The idea of this association is to create a constant interaction - it will be open to everyone regardless of their political views and leanings."

The Deputies did say, however, that it was very possible the association could evolve into the party as it grew, and also acknowledged the similarities it had.

They added the plan was for other similar associations to form, either from other Deputies setting up groups, or from parts of theirs breaking away in the future.

What can we expect from the Association going forward?

A meeting is now going to be held on Thursday 22 March at Les Cotils, just nine days after the first meeting - a point the Deputies used to prove they were going to move quickly, at a business' speed, rather than the States' - where committees and working groups for the association will be organised.

A name and branding will also be announced at that meeting for the association, and a fundraising campaign will be started.

Then in June, the inaugural Association Convention will be held where a constitution will be approved, party objectives will be discussed and an official launch will take place.

After that, the plan is for the association to campaign for Island Wide Voting, and then prepare for the 2020 election with a number of member-approved candidates.