National, please agree to televised debates with other parties
Copy of an email I have sent to the National Party:
Dear John Key and National Party,
I respectfully ask you to reverse your agreement with Labour on televised debates by agreeing to be in a televised debate with the leaders of other parties. Your agreement with Labour is not in the spirit of our electoral system. The people of New Zealand each have a party vote. In order to make an informed decision, we must see all broadly-supported parties debate on a level playing field. Instead we see you and Helen Clark refusing to share the televised stage with other party leaders.
National, Labour and the television media are entering an arrangement designed to leave people uninformed of their full range of choice. You are presenting New Zealanders with a false dichotomy. You have started New Zealand on a journey to becoming a media-supported two-party plutocracy like the USA.
In 2004, two US presidential candidates were arrested trying to enter a presidential debate. These arrests barely got reported by the corporate media, if at all. As one presidential candidate stated, “I was arrested but the real crime is the corporate hijacking of our democracy”.
The National Party’s decision to stifle debate will be remembered. You lose goodwill and votes with such actions. Your decision damages the integrity of your party’s commitment to participate in a democracy.
Regards
If you’d like to send them a similar message, here are the addresses I used: john.key at national.org.nz, hq at national.org.nz, and judy.kirk at national.org.nz (party president).
You can read more about Labour and National’s agreement here:
Clark, Key hog TV debate — NZ Herald
MMP attacked by Clark and Key’s refusal to front — Green Party
