For embattled political leaders, the omnipresent spectre of an election isn't merely a boon -- it's a survival instinct.
This seems to be the case for Green Party leader Elizabeth May, who is attempting to head off a leadership challenge by telling Green Party members that an election is imminent.
Green Party members are beginning to organize to dump May's leadership -- a prospect that seems grim for May as she continues to fight to avert a mandatory leadership review, due for this autumn.
A vote to avert the leadership review will be held at the Green Party convention in August.
“There’s an election on and this one really matters,” May later added.
Problem being of course, that there's no election on right now -- and the prospects for an election seem grim, with a governing party that seems to have little incentive to call one, with recent polls indicating that the Conservative Party is still shy of majority government territory.
Of course, election fever is in the best interests not only of Elizabeth May, but also of Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff -- whose party is languishing as low as 25% in recent polls.
Keep followers agonizing over the prospects over an election that may still be as much as two years away seems to be in the best interests of embattled political leaders. And with nothing to show for her four years of leadership of the Green Party, there's no reason in the world why May shouldn't be embattled.
As with all things, May's description of her motivation are typically self-aggrandizing and self-serving.
“My motivations are very much based on what will make Canada’s democracy work better," May insisted.
Yet it seems that whenever Elizabeth May does something that will advance her own political career, and increase her own public profile, she always insists that it's for the betterment of Canadian democracy.
May's democratic motto could be said to be "l'estat c'est elle".
After all, subverting the rules of the Green Party to shield her leadership from scrutiny isn't at all in the best interests of Canadian democracy, or even in the best interests of her own party.
It's in Elizabeth May's best interests. Full stop.
If May needs to provoke a perpetual state of election anxiety amongst her party membership in order to satisfy her best interests, so be it.
Other bloggers writing about this topic:
Mark Taylor - "Start With Our Own Democracy First"
Dr Roy Eappen - "Iffy Is Not the Only One in Trouble"
It is strange how those most likely to not survive the next election are most dependent on having on this Fall.
ReplyDeleteI have never watched a video clip of May making a convincing argument for her party.
The Munk Debate she came across as the weakest link for Global Warming.
She resorted to personal and ad hominem attacks against her opponents.
Chris Selly wrote a great piece that summed up the leadership and the problem with the Liberals.
They don't believe they belong in opposition and have not been effective.