‘Disappointing, boring and deeply uninspiring.’
No, not Mrs Fly’s disgruntled complaints about her birthday present but Fly’s assessment of what has turned into a tedious election to find 25 Deputies. There has been a distinct lack of buzz about proceedings over the last few weeks and Fly is thinking about packing it all in and winging his way off to sunnier climates.
Just a few days away from the opening of the polling booths and Fly is struggling to maintain interest in the whole affair. He has tried, really tried, to get to all of the hustings and learn what he can about the 63 candidates (63! Fly doesn’t even have that many friends! How can he be expected to remember these people?) but it has all proved futile.
During the elections Fly has also been disturbed at the attitude of some of the voters. One chap, when asked who he had voted for in the elections three years ago, replied: I don’t know – my Dad told me who to vote for.’ Fly thinks that that is probably one of the scariest examples of how the Jersey populace cast their votes and hopes that any voters who haven’t read the issues will leave the decision-making to voters who know what they are doing.
For once, Fly was in agreement with Deputy de Faye, who spoke on this subject last week. He made the good point that 100 per cent voter turnout would not necessarily be a good thing because it would mean that there were people voting who had no idea about the process. Be careful who you elect into Senator Stuart Syvret’s oligarchy – he is very fussy who he sits next to in the States Chamber.
There have been brief moments of excitement during some of the hustings but nothing approaching the fervour that accompanied the Senatorials. It all leads Fly to one conclusion: to focus the voters, Jersey needs a general election.
Well, that’s it from Fly – he’s off to try once more to explain to Mrs Fly that a fishing rod is never disappointing, far from boring and often very inspiring.
