Yes it is a sham …. just for different reasons.
Whilst the electoral machinery get’s into full gear in the rest of the county, though some would say it never really slowed down since the last election, I find myself somewhat relieved that at least the political monsoon that is the KSU Election, has finally ended. Whilst the dust settles on what I found to be the most interesting student election in my 4 years on campus, one cannot help but ponder on the “mess” that our student body has for politics.
It was funny how in the run up to this year’s edition of “UoM’s next top Party Organiser,” no one seemed to care. It was nothing of note, even Pulse’s decision to boycott the election yet again, didn’t seem to drum up the same shock and awe it did when they started this campaign of non participation the previous year. That is, until the Dean of the Faculty of Laws gave his two cents in the form of a rather brief piece on ToM. It was amazing how people could get worked up just because he dared question the legitimacy of the supreme leaders of the student body, let alone bring up the “abhorrent lie” that the two main parties are somehow affiliated with the PN and MLP, which is something that everyone outside of SDM and Pulse’s devout followers openly admit. I do find myself agreeing with Prof. Aquilina’s key argument, yes the KSU elections are a sham, though not for the reasons he lays out.
Prof Aquilina calls for a change of KSU’s statute, calling for proportional representation. This would be fine if we were voting for a parliament, but we’re not. We’re voting for an executive, more specifically, each individual position. So first past the post makes sense here, at least in it’s current form. The argument of proportional representation only comes to play if you believe that only SDM and Pulse can take part in the election, a fallacy we all to often believe.
The fact that independent candidates can and did run defeats the argument that the game only belongs to SDM and Pulse, a matter made even funnier by Pulse doing the equivalent of complaining about the game by refusing to play it.
It’s a pity that only now, in my final months at University, I find myself finally interested in a game that isn’t exactly broken, just being played by two very boring teams hogging the ball. Though I hope I’m not the only one.
Till next time,
Stay Tuned…
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This is part of a series of Blog posts which form part of a Synoptic Portfolio Project for a Final Year Communications student at the University of Malta.
