Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Closed vote prevents Plaid embarrassment?

How they run their party is completely up to them...
PLAID CYMRU has come under fire over its decision not to release voting figures in a ballot which saw Dafydd Iwan re-elected as the party’s president.
Although Plaid officials said no formal announcement would be made, it is understood that Mr Iwan defeated the party’s parliamentary leader Elfyn Llwyd by around 2,500 votes to 1,800.

Mr Iwan’s role as president is to act as a link between the party’s elected politicians and its grassroots. Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones remains party leader.

Last night it emerged that a policy decision was made by senior Plaid officials some time ago not to release the results of internal party elections because of embarrassment over earlier leaks.

...but how can the publication of such a vote’s result cause “embarrassment” for a democratic party that supposedly believes in the principles of open government and transparency?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

What do expect from people who join a political party because they "like the welsh language"

Hen Ferchetan said...

Totally agree O'Neill, it's stupid for them not to release the results, especially as everyone knew Dafydd Iwan would win easily.

The less said about Anon's reply the better!

O'Neill said...

The less said about Anon's reply the better!

An early runner for "pointless comment of the week"!

Anonymous said...

Oneill you shock me! I thought you'd concur that Plaid are ridiculous

O'Neill said...

Always pleased to disappoint.

Your comment was irrelevant to the topic, I was posting about, ie internal party secrecy.

But solely for my own curiousity, put up the link confirming where somebody has said that they joined the Plaid because they "like the Welsh language."

Anonymous said...

The raison d'etre of the party is to promote welsh language. They aren't as sepratist as the SNP constitutionally.

Anonymous said...

From Wikipedia:

Plaid Cymru has five stated aims.[3]

To promote the constitutional advancement of Wales with a view to attaining independence for Wales within the European Union.
To ensure economic prosperity, social justice and the health of the natural environment, based on decentralist socialism.
To build a national community based on equal citizenship, respect for different traditions and cultures and the equal worth of all individuals, whatever their race, nationality, gender, colour, creed, sexuality, age, ability or social background.
To create a bilingual society by promoting the revival of the Welsh language.
To promote Wales's contribution to the global community and to attain membership of the United Nations.


It seems they now do want an independent wales, but point no 4 shows one of the party's core values is liking speaking Welsh.

O'Neill said...

To create a bilingual society by promoting the revival of the Welsh language

It's part of it I'm sure, but only part of why people would join a political party like Plaid. Someone who's concerned solely with the promotion of a minority language can achieve much more by joining a suitable one-issue pressure group.