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Israel Insider
January 27,
2003
Summary:
Editorial attacking
the Israeli government
and its system of closed party list full representation (proportional
representation).
An Israeli democrat's
lament
By Dr. Nathan Cherny
January
27, 2003 There is a sad apathy as we approach this week's election.
Undoubtedly, Ariel Sharon will be returned to power. Undoubtedly his
Likud party will be the largest party in the coming Knesset and they
will be challenged to assemble some form of coalition. Coalitions of
this ilk are based on no sense of global national beneficence,
rather on each sectarian party battling for their own membership and
specific interests. The coming coalition is likely to be stitched
together between representatives of the settlers, extreme (racist)
right-wing parties and the ultra-Orthodox. It is a frightening
prospect. With regard to the Palestinian issue, Sharon has
committed himself to a two state solution. His party, however, has
elected a list of candidates heavily weighted to those who fervently
oppose this approach. The nomination of Binyamin Netanyahu, possibly
the most outspoken opponent to the ultimate formation of a
Palestinian state, as the Likud candidate for foreign minister makes
a sham of Sharon's leadership. The formulation of the Likud list of
candidates is tainted by evidence of overt corruption and a
longstanding tradition of nepotism. The environment minister, Tzachi
Hanegbi, took great pride in providing well paid positions for party
hacks; ministerial appointments based on party loyalty rather than
any issue of meritocracy. For Hanegbi, this approach paid
handsomely. His loyalty, and support of the party membership and
their hip-pockets, earned him the number one position in the party's
primary elections. For others, corruption was more overt; bribery
and intimidation are well-established traditions in the Likud. It
is one thing to give the "common man" a voice, it is quite another
to embrace the most base elements of the county's social fabric.
This is especially true in a country with an acknowledged problem of
organized crime, stand over men and protection money. Sadly the
Labor list is not much better. Here too, the tradition of nepotistic
appointments is strong. Factionalism, self interest and egotism have
sadly undermined the credibility of the party as an effective
political agent. Indeed, after the coming election, it is unlikely
that the Labor party will be a substantial force in the next
Knesset. The Knesset and the process of its formation are in a
state of disrepute. Voters, for the most part, feel sadly
disconnected from any position of influence. Alienation from the
whole political process has become a sorry norm. Politicians and the
raucous, uncivilized Knesset are generally held in low repute.
Voters, for their part, have no sense of having a representative in
the Knesset. Once on their seats, the only constituencies that
Knesset members feel responsibly towards are their own party
members. There is little perceived notion of responsibility to the
interests of the greater community. From the citizen's perspective,
there is no notion of having any real representation. Direct
communication to Knesset members is the private domain of wealthy
industrialists. The common man has no avenue other than through
opinion polls or demonstrations. There is a real and urgent need to
restore the Knesset as a viable and respected house of leaders
representing the interests of the voting constituency. Electoral
reform is not a new issue on the Israeli political agenda. It has
long been appreciated that the fictionalization of the Knesset in to
ten or more parties, leads to unstable and often unworkable
coalitions. The usual proposal has been to raise the threshold for
proportional representation from 2% to 5%. Though this would still
leave the Knesset factionalized, and without any real improvement in
the tradition of representation, even this option has been
politically impassable. The problem seems to be in the notion of
representatives representing ideologies rather than citizens. The
proportional representative system protects the representation of a
wide spectrum of competing national ideologies, but at a crippling
price of unstable government, lack of direct representation and
public accountability, and corrupt and nepotistic intra-party
mechanisms. The proportional representation system adopted by the
pre-state Yishuv and subsequently by the state, was inherited from
the World Zionist Organization. In its original context, it provided
a mechanism for representation of the full diversity of the Jewish
Zionist world. As such, it served its purpose. The adoption of the
proportional representative electoral system for the state has been
a dismal failure. Never designed to manage a modern state, it has
resulted in successive governments have been characterized by
instability, special treatment of the sectarian interests of minor
coalition parties and a deplorable tradition of nepotism (jobs for
the boys). Additionally it has alienated the voters and has left
them feeling devoid of meaningful representation. Israel is in
crisis. Every aspect of life is now in turmoil. State and personal
security, the economy, relations between orthodox and secular Jews,
immigrant issues, problems with an underclass of almost a quarter of
a million foreign workers, increasing violence and a general erosion
of civil society. Many of these issues have snowballed out of
control under the mismanagement of successive unstable governments.
Unstable, ineffectual and increasingly corrupt government is a
luxury that we can no longer afford. I want to vote for a
representative. I want to know who I am voting for. I want to know
his personal record and political record and to know that the
elected member will be answerable to me and my concerns... even if I
didn't vote for them. This approach would introduce a new degree of
accountability. It would lead, inevitably, to fewer parties and
greater political stability, True that there may be less political
diversity, but that is a price that I am prepared to pay for
stability and responsible representation. Among so many other
pressing issues on the political agenda, the challenge of electoral
reform will take courage vision and resolve. Now, possibly more than
ever, with the very fiber of the State at stake, electoral reform is
an existential imperative. I hope that we are up to the challenge.
Views expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect those of
israelinsider. |
