MOVES towards electoral reform fleetingly took two steps forward - then immediately took two steps back again.
David Callister MLC’s private members’ bill for a directly elected Legislative Council was given its second reading in the upper house by five votes to four.
Perhaps caught out by his surprise success, Mr Callister then proceeded to scare off the support he had received with a rambling attempt to explain the bill’s clauses.
It provided perfect ammunition for his bill’s critics. Eddie Lowey MLC, who had voted against the second reading, said he had rarely heard a ‘more rambling, bumbling’ delivery.
‘I’ve rarely heard my good friend come up with a less convincing argument for anything – and I’m being polite,’ he added.
Alex Downie MLC said it was a ‘good indication about how dangerous it is to start meddling with legislation’. He claimed there was no huge clamour with the public for change. ‘We are opening a Pandora’s Box here,’ he said.
Juan Turner MLC supported an adjournment of the clauses stage proposed by Dudley Butt MLC, arguing: ‘We have a duty to make sure it’s technically correct’. Mr Turner, who supported the second reading, said he felt it should be for MHKs not MLCs to drive through ‘a major change to the constitution’.
Mr Callister’s bill proposes the island is divided into eight constituencies each returning three MHKs and one MLC.
Unfortunately, as Phil Braidwood MLC pointed out during the second reading, the Boundary Review Committee is recommending the island is divided up into 12 constituencies, each returning two members.
He said: ‘I feel this is completely opposite to what is now planned with the Boundary Committee.’
The Lord Bishop said he thought people misunderstood what is meant by democracy. He said we had a ‘magnificent’ system – ‘certainly better than they have in the UK’ – and he warned that ‘if we threaten that system we will turn Tynwald into a single chamber’.
Dudley Butt MLC said if MLCs were party to decisions that affect people’s lives then ‘we should be elected by the public’. Tony Wild MLC said there was groundswell of opinion in the Keys for a popularly elected LegCo and Alan Crowe MLC agreed there was a feeling that change is needed. ‘I believe it’s the right thing at the right time.’
Mr Callister said he believed change was ‘inevitable’. ‘Whether it happens with this bill or another in future, it will change’.
Supporting the second reading were Mr Butt, Mr Turner, Mr Crowe, Mr Callister and Mr Wild while the Bishop, Mr Lowey, Mr Braidwood and Mr Downie voted against. LegCo voted for the reading of the clauses to be adjourned until the next sitting on January 22.
Tynwald president Clare Christian urged Mr Callister to produce a clear schedule showing the proposed changes.