Sir, - May I dispel some myths about our democratic parliamentary system? The recent by election in Dublin provides a very good example. If one takes the total electorate of 65,534 persons, 43.6 per cent only bothered to cast a vote; therefore the quota is 21.6 per cent, the successful candidate only got 10.6 per cent of the first preference votes and was elected on 17.9 per cent.
All figures are based on the total electorate, not just on the minority total valid poll on the day in question. This latter figure hardly gives anyone a mandate to govern and could not be seen as a source of celebration or evidence of a healthy democratic process.
When politics stops demanding an oath of loyalty to the political party by the candidate and eliminates the flirting with big business interests, and concentrates on the democratic electorate, the vast majority of which, 56.3 per cent, did not vote, then we will have the genesis of a truly democratic society. If democracy is government by all its people, then we should listen to them; in this case the majority are the ones who did not vote. - Yours, etc.,
Oak Park, Ennis,
Co Clare.