Thursday, July 18, 2013

The NDP - Just Another Political Machine - UPDATE

Although I will likely vote NDP federally in the next election, I am under no illusion that the party is much different from its two major competitors. Indeed, I see it as occupying the middle ground that the Liberals once laid claim to, and quite frankly, compared to the latter's leader's apparently policy-less platform, Thomas Mulcair looks statesmanlike and intelligent.

Of the NDP in Ontario, the province in which I reside, I am less certain. While leader Andrea Horwath has made noises about doing politics differently, increasingly she and her party appear to represent nothing except the same old backroom machinations aimed at maximizing seats at the expense of principle. A strong case in point is found in today's Star column by Martin Regg Cohn. Entitled NDP fights for its soul in Scarborough civil war, it tells the rather sordid tale of how disgraced former Toronto City Councillor Adam Giambrone, wending his way back from political purgatory, essentially 'muscled out' Amarjeet Kaur Chhabra, the very person he thought best to contest the upcoming Scarborough byelection.

But at the 11th hour, Giambrone had second thoughts — concluding that he was the best choice. He telephoned his fresh recruit, Chhabra, to confess that he would challenge her for the nomination.

In no time, Giambrone rounded up a posse to push him over the top at the weekend nomination meeting.

Unfortunately, these new supporters did not appear on a printed list of members signed up before the 30-day cut-off, and 12 names are being contested. Given that she lost by only two votes, the betrayed candidate, Amarjeet Kaur Chhabra, by all accounts an ideal choice, is prepared to take legal action to invalidate the nomination that Giambrone 'won.'

Party leader Horwath appears to be missing in action on the whole issue.

Unquestionably, when party democracy takes a back seat to political expediency, it cannot bode well for the future.



UPDATE: Amarjeet Kaur Chhabra has announced that she will not be pursuing legal action over the subversion of her bid for the NDP Scarborough nomination. She said that while she remains “disappointed” in the NDP over the debacle, she is letting the matter drop because the Aug. 1 vote is so close.

6 comments:

  1. It's precisely this kind of self-centred ambition which leaves voters apathetic, Lorne.

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    1. Exactly, Owen. Politics is in some ways like the premise of Groundhog Day. Everyday is the same as the day before.

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  2. Lorne, this is off topic, but I have to ask you about another 'dead' city in the US. The largest, so far. (I know there are many smaller towns that we never hear of.)Did you see the piece by Chris Hedges on Camden, NJ?

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    1. No, I haven't, Linda, but will look for it and read it. Thanks for the tip!

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  3. I can't forgive Layton/Mulcair from severing the NDP's anchor to the Left. It was bad enough, odious even, when Ignatieff transformed the Libs into Conservative Lite. For the NDP to choose that moment to quest for power through centrism did little lasting good for anyone, including the NDP. It only played directly into facilitating Stephen Harper's overarching objective - to shift Canada's political centre far and permanently to the Right. The NDP, as much as the IgLibs, betrayed Canada and dealt a body blow to progressivism. We'll never even our political keel now and, for that, I wouldn't piss on Mulcair if he was on fire.

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    1. Strong words with which I think many would agree, Mound. I fear, for the reasons you articulate, that we will never again re-establish anything approaching a balance in public policy.

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