National’s response to my televised debate request
National’s response to my email about National and Labour’s televised debate deal came via John Key’s personal assistant at parliament.
Apparently TV and radio media were proposing many debates. National decided to limit debates to be John Key vs Helen Clark because one or the other will be the next Prime Minister, and “voters should have the opportunity to hear from them in the first instance”. National claims that the responsibility for the cancellation of TV3’s multi-party debate (containing only the newer parties as National and Labour pulled out) lies with TV3, and that that issue should be taken up with TV3.
Here is the response I sent back to National:
TV3, or should I say HT Media Holdings Limited, is a private company, beholden to its mainly foreign shareholders. As a foreign owned profit-driven entity, I don’t expect TV3 to have much in the way of journalistic integrity or respect for our democracy. As political parties wishing to govern a democracy, it is National and Labour that should be showing respect for free and open debate.
If we are being honest, National has entered this deal with Labour in hopes of improving National’s proportion of the party vote. You seek to manipulate New Zealanders by presenting them with a false dichotomy, i.e. that they must make a choice between National and Labour.
I understand that you want to maximise your party vote at the expense of newer parties like the Greens, ACT, NZ First and the Māori Party. But your deal with Labour comes across as an underhanded, intellectually distasteful tactic. Are you and Labour not embarrassed that you are resorting to such measures?
We are not a republic. We do not have a separate vote for the leader of the country. We are a parliamentary democracy under a proportional electoral system. Our party vote, is not for who we want as a prime minister, it is for the party whose policies best address the issues that concern us.
Let the people of New Zealand hear from all broadly-supported parties on a level playing field. Let the people decide.
Regards
At this stage, I haven’t received any response to the request I sent to Labour.
