Down With This

What an election. I have been following the action on the Guardian’s live election blog . With several reporters covering every aspect of this election as things unfurl, including Twitter feeds, it really makes for great reading.

At this point it seems very likely that the UK will have some form of coalition government. According to the Guardian “It is understood that three options were under consideration: an informal "supply and confidence" arrangement in which the Lib Dems would allow confidence measures, such as the budget and the Queen's speech, to be passed; a more formal arrangement in which the Tories would agree to pass legislation on schools and tax reform that would be acceptable to the Lib Dems, who would not join the government; or a full coalition in which the Lib Dems would sit in the cabinet. “ At this point in time the “supply and confidence” option seems to have legs but, the Liberal Democrats are still talking to Labour.

There are some great bloggers following things and the papers are full of the struggle to see who will win out. It is nice to see people in the UK actually interested in the electoral system and acknowledging that it just isn’t working.

Under the slogan “No more broken elections. Fair Vote now.” The Take Back Parliament site says This Parliament does not represent us. We demand fair votes now. There must never again be an election under this broken system. Our election is being stolen - this isn't the parliament we voted for! Sign up here to take it back

It is great to see citizens engaged.
Unfortunately rumour at least has it, that Nick Clegg has already given up on his demand that the new government hold a referendum on making changes to the electoral system.

Hopefully Canadians will learn at the very least that the “first past the post” system is broken and has to be replaced by something more democratic and second that coalition governments are not treasonous. Now, if someone would tell that to the Governor General.

For more informantion on the campaign for electoral reorm in Canada go the the Fair Vote Canada site. If you like what you see, ten dollars will get you a membership and help a great cause.