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Recall and Term Limit

Politicians of all parties are usually happy to promise all things to all people when they are on the campaign trail during election time. More often than not these promises are soon forgotten and new policy measures are taken that were not even mentioned during the election battle.

At present the electorate is left with no other option but to grin and bear it while waiting for the next election.

We support the introduction of a recall option which would allow dissatisfied citizens to remove politicians at every level of government.

A good example is the Swiss Canton of Ticino were in March 2010 voters have approved the possibility of removing the politicians of the local communities in the same way as they are able to remove those of the canton itself. This allows the citizen to apply the emergency brake in case there is deep-seated dissatisfaction with the measures taken by the executive. In order to set this procedure in motion, at least 30 per cent of the electorate have to support it within a 60-day period.

Elections (better: box ticking exercises) every few years are not a sufficient tool to remove incompetent politicians. Democracies need to make allowance for removing politicians during their term of office if there is a sufficient majority of citizens in support of such a move.

This is illustrated by the present situation in Hungary where the leader of the government was caught out admitting that the election win was achieved by being less than honest during the election campaign.

It should not be necessary for the outraged citizens to rampage through the streets before they get noticed. The civilised way is to launch a referendum demanding the impeachment and/or recall of the government or minister whose performance is considered to be unacceptable. Everyone would have time to put forward his arguments and only if a qualified majority can be organised the person(s) concerned would be forced out of office.
 

More on Recall and Term Limit






 

Why you should support
Dirdem:

► Are you angry when people want to control your life?

► Are you angry when people want to live off the fruit of your work?

► Are you angry when people want to tell you what to think?

►If your answer is YES to any or all of the above questions then you should support our Movement.

DIRDEM
is more than a traditional Political Party. We do not see this Cause as a career choice - or stepping stone leading to a lucrative career in the private sector.

DIRDEM
is not a Think Tank that publishes lengthy reports that are only read by a few insiders and later disappear in some library of filing cabinet.

DIRDEM
is not a Lobby or Special Interest Group that tries to gain advantage at the expense of other groups of society.

DIRDEM
is not a Religion or Ideology and does not try to make people believe in something except in the belief that no one should be allowed to rule our lives.
 

Decisions you would be able to influence:

By giving the reader examples of recent policy decisions we highlight the dramatic impact the introduction of Direct Democracy would have on the political life of all countries.

All the following decisions where taken without the participation of the affected citizens. Some - if not most - were highly controversial and have a negative effect for at least some major parts of the country's population.

The present system of government not only leaves the citizens powerless in the face of a never-ending tide of legislation, it also inevitably leads to inefficient use of taxpayer's money and a steady erosion of civil liberties.

See what decisions the citizens could influence directly in a proper democratic system