What Happened?
How does a Premier who received 97% on the same question 4 years ago, receive 55% this past weekend when PC Party delegates were asked: "Do you wish a Provincial Leadership election to be called?" 45.6% of the Party delegates answered yes.
Thoughts and comments from some of those who were there:
"I think the membership basically voted not to have a two-year leadership
campaign" -Lyle Oberg, MLA for Strathmore Brookes.
"I think there were a lot of individuals sending an individual message to
the premier, not realizing there are many others around them doing the same
thing, this was not orchestrated. I think a lot of people thought they were just
sending a gentle message, not realizing there were a lot of people sending the
very same message." - Thomas Lukaszuk, MLA for Edmonton-Castle Downs.
"What happened here is people still love Ralph Klein, they just said you
can't hang on for two years." - Calgary Ward 6 Alderman Craig Burrows."It's hurting me to find out 45 percent of delegates voted against
him...People want to change for the sake of change." -Moe Amery, MLA for
Calgary-East
Everyone seems to have an opinion on this, as is their entitlement. Emotions vary from shock, to anger, to sadness, to confusion."He didn't listen to the right people. He didn't take the right approach to
fourth-term governing as a lame-duck premier. He didn't know that being elected
in late 2004 actually meant leaving in mid-2006. He figured that keeping his
word, and governing for three years before retiring with dignity was the right
thing to do. He was wrong." - Don Martin, Calgary Herlad columnist.
Feel free to add your own thoughts....
posted by Anonymous @ Monday, April 03, 2006
5 comments
5 Comments:
A couple points come to mind:
1. During the last AGM the Party was seriously concerned about hearing the voice of the grassroots. I'm not certain the exact definition of grassroots, but I am going to assume that voting delegates from individual constituencies would constitute grassroots. Let this be a lesson in politics; be careful what you wish for.
2. The talk of the 70% plus approval rating in the recent Calgary Herald poll is being used as proof positive that the Premier still has support. If the party leveled the playing field and permitted the leadership review to be based on a one member one vote as they did for the previous leadership reviews that garnished 90% plus support, than the 70% plus may have been better reflected.
There are going to be a lot of people predicting what is about to happen. All I can say is that for the survival of the Party and this Government we best rip this band-aid of with one swift motion or the shockwaves of dwelling on the weekends events may be Rome’s final legacy.
That's exactly right Simpsonite. Imagine if all the Ragging Grannies and "Friends" of Medicare had the opportunity to vote on the weekend... that would have been chaos. It sucks when politics overtakes the democratic political process.
I think you left out one reaction..that may have been felt by some...a very few...actually....
"SMUG SATISFACTION"
Smug satisfaction? That might be an understatement. The speech the Premier gave on Friday night was brutal, he needed to give the best speech of his life, and he gave one of the worst.
People didn't vote against Ralph as much as they just wanted him to know that he should leave this year, not next. Ralph always listens to the people, lets hope he does so this time.
I always enjoy the "anonymous" comments. It's good to hear what people are thinking, but I hope the use of "anonymous" isn't because they are afraid to acknowledge who they are.
Simpsonite's comment actually reminded me of one quote that I wanted to add but forgot to. It was from the Honourable Gene Zwozdesky, he said "I honestly don't know what happened, I'm at a loss to explain it."
Post a Comment
<< Home