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National interest best served by a general election

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The Labour Party has received no letter from John Gormley so it is not clear what exactly he is talking about; whether it is a national government or some sort of dialogue about fiscal objectives.

The Labour Party is a responsible party that will never play politics with the national interest. When Brian Cowen’s government made such a botch of the first Lisbon Referendum, rather than attempting to seek some political advantage, the Labour Party put all its efforts into ensuring that the second referendum would pass.

We also supported the commitment entered into by the government with the EU to reduce the deficit to 3% by 2014. Labour did so voluntarily and without having to be asked. We produced a set of budget proposals last year consistent with the achievement of this target and we will do so again this year.

However, we strongly believe that the national interest will now be served by the election of new government with a fresh mandate that can begin the process of renewal and lead the country to economic recovery.

Many voters will view the call from the Green Party as a desperate attempt to remind the public of its existence and a gesture that has more to do with trying to keep Fianna Fail in power and to rescue Fianna Fail and Green seats than rescuing the country.

If this were a serious initiative then surely Minister Gormley would first of all have sought agreement in advance from his senior partners in government and would then have made contact privately with other parties rather than announcing it through the media.

The Labour Party is always available to discuss and debate economic and other issues with Fianna Fail and the Greens, and the appropriate forum for this is the Dail. Unfortunately, the Green members, and the Green Ministers in particular, rarely attend the Dail. In addition the Greens combined with Fianna Fail to vote through a motion on July 8th to close down the Dail for a period of 13 weeks at a time when it was clear that economy was diving further into a tailspin.

Even if the Labour Party were to agree to some set of secret discussions with the government on the economy, we would be entering into talks with parties that clearly no longer have any mandate from the electorate. The most recent opinion poll shows, for instance, an approval rating of just 13% for the Fianna Fail/ Green government.

What the Green Party seems to be seeking is some sort of a mandate from the opposition for more of the same policies that have led this country to disaster, when what the people want is real change.

This state is facing the biggest economic crisis in its history. We face daunting challenges and decisions of unprecedented difficulty. To deal with that situation we need a government with a clear mandate and a stable majority. The biggest contributing factor to the current instability is the growing unrest on the government backbenches and their increasing doubt about their capacity to get measures through the Dail. Only a general election can remove that uncertainty.

The post National interest best served by a general election appeared first on Joan Burton.


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