New reform group calls for open primaries


by Sunny Hundal    
October 20, 2009 at 3:17 pm

A newly launched pressure group demanding a change in our politics has called for open primaries to be made compulsory for selection.

Open Up Now claim to be a group of people from backgrounds who have “come together with a common motive of trying to do something to help improve a dire political environment”.

They say their aim is to increase transparency, fairness and accountability in elections and government by promoting positive change.

They call for Open Primaries on their website with this demand:

It’s not just about expenses. It’s about reforming our political system. The way Parliament is run and government does business must change – and getting the best possible people into office is the starting point.

That’s why we want the people, not the politicians, to select who stands for election. That’s why we want Open Primaries in every constituency, where the people select their own candidates, and where anyone can put themselves forward to be a candidate. That’s why we want all current MPs to agree to stand for re-selection in an Open Primary. We want this before the next General Election. And this is what Open Up is calling on every political party to do.

They have also created this video

www.openupnow.org


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About the author
Sunny Hundal is editor of LC. Also: on Twitter, at Pickled Politics and Guardian CIF.
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Reader comments


What nonsense. Talk about completely misunderstanding the political process and a few basic principles of democracy. Anyone is entitled to form a party and anyone is entitled to stand for election. If each party is directly controlled by the people they’ll all become the same.

This is a total distraction from the real issues at hand – notably the need for popular sovereignty and electoral reform.


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