NYTIMES: Electoral Demand Stalls Coalition Deal in BritainTalks about forming a new government resumed on Saturday amid concern that continuing uncertainty would shake world financial markets when they reopen Monday, but the prospects of a deal between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats by that deadline appeared slim.
As an intensive round of negotiations among the parties’ power brokers began Saturday, the Conservatives appeared strongly resistant to the Liberal Democrats’ main demand: a change in the voting system to help smaller parties gain representation in future parliamentary elections. The most that David Cameron, the Conservative leader, seemed ready to concede was that the voting system, and other electoral measures, could be considered by an all-party parliamentary committee, a mechanism that has failed to institute changes in the past.
The Liberal Democrats, meanwhile, seemed divided over seeking a union with the Conservatives or with the Labour Party, which many among the left-leaning Liberal Democrats see as more philosophically compatible than the Conservatives. Perhaps nodding to that opinion, Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, spoke by telephone on Friday evening with the Labour leader, Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Mr. Clegg’s aides said. No details were revealed, but one Clegg aide described it as “tetchy.”
HERE'S MY COMPROMISE IDEA:
- I THINK THEY SHOULD MAKE THE HOUSE OF LORDS STRICTLY AN ELECTED BODY.
- LORDS WOULD HAVE SET TERMS OF 6 YEARS - LIKE OUR SENATE
- IT WOULD BE A BODY WHOSE REPRESENTATIVES ARE SELECTED PROPORTIONATELY.
- THEY COULD START THIS YEAR WITH 1/2 OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS, AND IN THREE YEARS ELECT ANOTHER HALF.
- THIS WOULD GIVE EVERY PARTY A CHANCE FOR A VOICE IN GOVERNMENT AND LEGISLATION.
- THEY COULD OFFER THIS AS A REFERENDUM - AS EARLY AS THIS SUMMER.
IT'S A REFORM PROPOSAL I THINK ALL THREE MAJOR PARTIES COULD ENDORSE.
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