The EPMU decision
It's been a bit of a hectic week hence the sparse blogging but I`m back now.
The High Court decision [PDF] that the EPMU is a "natural person" under the Electoral Finance Act means that the Electoral Commission now has to determine whether the EPMU is involved in the affairs of a political party before deciding whether to register it as a Third Party. It also means that the Crown Law was wrong when it said that the EMPU was not a "natural person".
If the Electoral Commission determines that the EPMU is not involved in the affairs of Labour and registers it, I hope David Farrar, who took the action, will object. EPMU boss Andrew Little has been lined up to be Labour's president, should Mike Williams go, Little is on on Labour's governing council, almost stood as a candidate, and the EPMU is an affiliate of Labour. EPMU communications are constantly anti National, so it is hardly a politically independent union. If the EPMU is deemed not to be involved in the affairs of Labour, then there would be no reason why groups such as ACT on Campus can register as a third party either, given they are less involved in the affairs of Act than the EPMU is in Labour's affairs.
Labels: EPMU
1 Comments:
You make a valid point. This legislation regarding what a person is needs to be change where electoral matters are concerned. IN electoral terms, "persons" vote and organisations / corporations can't. The Electoral Finance regime - whatever it is - should see the voice of the voter as the fundamental unit and NOT allow non-voters (organisations /corporations) to behave as voters when they are not. To support that end, if a group of named people want to register as "3rd-partiies" - let them. But if ABC Corporation or Union wants to register.....well they can't vote so they can't register.
People are people. Voters are people. Not bodies corporate.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home