Opinion / Columnist
British vote to 'LEAVE' the EU was wise because EU is a dysfunctional union
24 Jun 2016 at 23:16hrs | Views
For the record, the British vote to leave the EU was a wise decision for the British people and for the rest of the world including developing countries like Zimbabwe and even the rest of the EU. Why?
You have heard a multitude of reasons both for and against leaving the EU, forget them all except one – the EU was not working.
The EU started as an economic union but, with time, has become an economic (trade in goods and services), monetary and political union – the latter by stealth with disastrous consequences. To make the economic and even more so the monetary union work the member country found that they had to work to the same laws and regulations and hence the need for the European Parliament.
However the idea of the United States of Europe on the same lines as the United State of America with Federal Government making all the key decision affecting all Americans and each State government handling local matters, the super duper local council if you like, never took off. Most EU member states still wanted their national parliament to retain real power hence the reason why national parliamentary elections were considered more important that elections to the European Parliament.
Still, the European Parliament started chaining more and more laws and regulations dictating to the national parliaments of the individual countries. Worse still, key decisions in the European Union are made by European Commissioners, unelected but rather individual appointed by respective national governments.
For a country like Britain with a healthy and functional democracy the last thing the British people wanted was to be hamstrung by the bureaucratic and, sometime indecisive, EU parliament which many considered superfluous to their own London parliamentary system.
On the other hand those national governments whose democratic system was not working as well as it should, countries like Greece, they would have been better off letting the EU dictate to the local government. The EU put its foot down with Greece after the got into serious economic trouble after the 2008 financial crush; after the horse had bolted, some would say.
Since 2008 the Greek people have again and again voted for an anti-hostility national government but only for the EU, to force the new government to follow the same hostility policies dictated by the EU or the EU rescue package would be withdrawn.
Greece is not yet out of the financial woods and will need more financial help in the future; the more prosperous EU member state will have to dig deeper to bail it out.
For the EU to work and avoid another Greek economic meltdown in a member state, then there have to be more political union. The United State of Europe is a choice but a survival necessity if the EU is to survive into the future; something everyone in the EU seems to loath, having existed as independent nations.
An EU without the federal state powers, complete with its democratic deficit, will not produce an economically and politically strong Europe; at least there will be many members countries who will feel they are being held back by the others, Britain will be one such country. A politically and economically enfeebled Britain will not be in the world's interest.
There not one voter who was refused the right to vote, there were no bussed voters casting multiple votes, no NIKUV to tamper with the voters roll, etc. The British electorate heard the arguments for remaining and leaving the EU and made their free and democratic choice. Sadly the same cannot be said about Zimbabwe; we are in the 21st century on paper but in reality we are the dark ages.
Over 33 million Britain voters cast their vote on 23 June 2016 and nearly 52% of them voted to leave the EU; time will tell if it was a wise decision but what can never ever be doubted is that the whole electoral process was free, fair and credible from start to finish!
One day, Zimbabwe too will hold free, fair and credible elections, all we need to do is to implement all the 2008 GPA democratic reforms. That will be Zimbabwe's independence day; the 18 April 1980 independence day was stolen from them!
You have heard a multitude of reasons both for and against leaving the EU, forget them all except one – the EU was not working.
The EU started as an economic union but, with time, has become an economic (trade in goods and services), monetary and political union – the latter by stealth with disastrous consequences. To make the economic and even more so the monetary union work the member country found that they had to work to the same laws and regulations and hence the need for the European Parliament.
However the idea of the United States of Europe on the same lines as the United State of America with Federal Government making all the key decision affecting all Americans and each State government handling local matters, the super duper local council if you like, never took off. Most EU member states still wanted their national parliament to retain real power hence the reason why national parliamentary elections were considered more important that elections to the European Parliament.
Still, the European Parliament started chaining more and more laws and regulations dictating to the national parliaments of the individual countries. Worse still, key decisions in the European Union are made by European Commissioners, unelected but rather individual appointed by respective national governments.
For a country like Britain with a healthy and functional democracy the last thing the British people wanted was to be hamstrung by the bureaucratic and, sometime indecisive, EU parliament which many considered superfluous to their own London parliamentary system.
On the other hand those national governments whose democratic system was not working as well as it should, countries like Greece, they would have been better off letting the EU dictate to the local government. The EU put its foot down with Greece after the got into serious economic trouble after the 2008 financial crush; after the horse had bolted, some would say.
Greece is not yet out of the financial woods and will need more financial help in the future; the more prosperous EU member state will have to dig deeper to bail it out.
For the EU to work and avoid another Greek economic meltdown in a member state, then there have to be more political union. The United State of Europe is a choice but a survival necessity if the EU is to survive into the future; something everyone in the EU seems to loath, having existed as independent nations.
An EU without the federal state powers, complete with its democratic deficit, will not produce an economically and politically strong Europe; at least there will be many members countries who will feel they are being held back by the others, Britain will be one such country. A politically and economically enfeebled Britain will not be in the world's interest.
There not one voter who was refused the right to vote, there were no bussed voters casting multiple votes, no NIKUV to tamper with the voters roll, etc. The British electorate heard the arguments for remaining and leaving the EU and made their free and democratic choice. Sadly the same cannot be said about Zimbabwe; we are in the 21st century on paper but in reality we are the dark ages.
Over 33 million Britain voters cast their vote on 23 June 2016 and nearly 52% of them voted to leave the EU; time will tell if it was a wise decision but what can never ever be doubted is that the whole electoral process was free, fair and credible from start to finish!
One day, Zimbabwe too will hold free, fair and credible elections, all we need to do is to implement all the 2008 GPA democratic reforms. That will be Zimbabwe's independence day; the 18 April 1980 independence day was stolen from them!
Source - Wilbert Mukori
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