Top 15 Vote Getters
Rumors have been circulating about members-elect of parliament already jumping ship or declaring themselves independent before 24 hours have even been passed or a government has been formed. If we recall, the elections yesterday were called with the condition that electoral reform be addressed by the present government. However, reform has not been forthcoming nor do we expect such to happen anytime soon. The preliminary results have shown that a number of shipjumpers in the past have not made the cut and have seemingly been ‘punished’ by the electorate for their behavior. The election results have indicated thus far that the UP and the NA both have 5 seats, the USP 3 and the DP 2 seats. But what if electoral reform was done and a system chosen whereby the 15 highest vote getters would earn a seat in parliament, who would these 15 elected persons be? Based on the preliminary results this newspaper has compiled a list of the top 15 vote getters that can be found below.
As we can see in this list, three candidates who did not get a seat in the present system of party seat allotments, have made the list. These persons are Wycliffe Smith (SMCP), Benjamin Ortega (SDM) and Maurice Lake (USP). Missing from this list are Rodolphe Samuel (211), Jules James (207) and Irion Ardwell (190). In terms of party representation in Parliament, both the UP and US would have 4 seats each, the NA 3, DP 2 and the SMCP and SDM 1 seat respectively.
Based on this system, shipjumping would not be necessary nor make any sense to go independent because each member would already be independent and would be forced to negotiate with each other to form a majority in parliament in order to appoint the Council of Ministers. These numbers by themselves would make things much more interesting in terms of negotiating a coalition accord. Chances are that we would see a much more broadbased government representing the interest of the voters. Is this system fairer? We think so. Is this a better reflection of the wish of the electorate? We think so too.
