Friday 3 October 2008

Speech made by Jaan Van De Ven at the World Forum on Direct Democracy Aarau, Switzerland

Oct 1, 2008

Ladies and Gentlemen it’s a great honor and a pleasure to be here at the first Global Forum on Direct Democracy (DD).

My Name is Jaan Van De Ven and I’m actively campaigning for DD in the Republic of Ireland where, I have been speaking on the subject of DD for several years.

Like most people in modern democracies, the majority of the Irish were born into freedom, have never lived under tyranny, and find it difficult to appreciate what DD is. They don’t see a need for it and are happy to stay with the Status Quo.

Due to a constitutional requirement Ireland was the only country to have a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. As a result, in solidarity with the French and the Dutch, Ireland, a small country of 4 million people Voted “NO” And decided the Lisbon treaty outcome for the European Unions 450 million citizens.

Unfortunately, Referendum in Ireland has an Achilles Heal; Ireland is a Plebiscite, and the parliament which controls the referendum agenda, can force a revote on Lisbon To get the answer they want the same way it did for the Nice Treaty.

A No Vote does Not Mean No And Only a Yes Vote Will have an Irreversible Binding Outcome.

Oddly enough, the possibility of a Lisbon Treaty revote is opening the way for Irish DD. It is the outrage of the “No Voters” which is causing a large political organization to incorporate DD as an Anti Lisbon campaign strategy to end the Irish Plebiscite by changing the constitution.

If successful, the Irish people can be secure in knowing that they will have referendum “push back” without the interference of a Plebiscite on all EU Treaties, laws and competencies. Even though the average EU citizen will never understand the intricacies of each treaty, hardly anyone does, they could then rest assured in knowing that they have the power to change what it is to live with A treaties result.

It’s the EU Commission and the Council of Ministers, who pushed hard for the Lisbon treaty. Through this treaty, they tried to make the outcome of the Dutch and French referendums on the EU constitution, the political will of more than 75 Million people, 1/6 of the citizens of Europe irrelevant.

The Irish “NO” to vote has already had a sobering affect on EU politics, and with additional Direct Democratic powers, the Irish electorate could have a dramatic steering effect on the future political landscape of the EU. It could redirect the push for an EU “super state” with a handful of EU wide unelected ministers at the top, with no accountability and a parliament with “no real power” into a more Swiss like federal union of autonomous direct democracies.

In closing, I would advise those of you who are passionate about campaigning for DD as a political outcome in the European Union and as a result modeling “better democracy” for the rest of the world, consider the small country of Ireland with its 4 million citizens as the best place to focus your resources to accomplish this goal.

If you are interested in knowing more I blog about it at:

http://www.nomeansno.ie/ and http://www.plebiscite.eu/

Email: jaan at galaxius.com

Thank you.

For more information on DD contact the sponsors of the Global Forum on DD


The Initiative and Referendum Institute Europe
http://www.iri-europe.org/


Friday 18 July 2008

The Next Step, Irish Strategy for a No to a Lisbon 2 Campaign

We always upgrade to the new and improved version of everything. Shouldn't the European Union be an upgrade to democracy as well? Find out why strengthening the power of referendum through Direct Democracy is the next step.

This Anti-Lisbon Strategy – Is not an Anti-Europe strategy.

This strategy is about who controls the Irish referendum agenda; the government or the people.

When the government or the majority party in parliament controls the agenda, they just schedule other referendums until the people vote the way they want, and “then and only then” is it a binding outcome. People complain that “this is not democratic”, it is, because through the constitution “we the sovereign people of Ireland” give them the power to do so. No signatures need to be gathered, the parliament just votes to schedule another one. This is called a Plebiscite. Ireland has a Plebiscite. In a Plebiscite, usually the ruler or the head of government decides when and on what issue(s) the people shall be consulted. The aim is not to implement democracy, but to provide legitimacy for the decisions of those in power.

When the people control the agenda, then the outcome of the vote is binding, “NO means NO and YES means YES”. When the people control the agenda, the people need to gather enough signatures to have a referendum on “whatever issue, whenever they want”. In this definition of democracy, only the constitution or the people can cause referendum to happen, not the government. Let’s be clear, the government has NO POWER to schedule a referendum, only the people by gathering signatures or the constitution does. This is called “Direct Democracy”.

Irish referendums are triggered by the constitution and controlled by the parliament. To change this, we need to change the Irish constitution. If the EU can change our constitution from the top down, then “we the sovereign people of Ireland” can certainly change it from the bottom up. If the Irish government does not respect the will of the Irish people and schedules another Lisbon referendum, Lisbon 2, then we should take that power away and give the right to cause referendum back to the sovereign Irish people. This would strengthen the sovereign power of the people. Then “Irish referendums could only be triggered by the constitution or by the people, not the government”.

Can we do this?

This is the perfect time to do it. I think the Irish people will be angry if the government schedules another Lisbon referendum (Lisbon 2). We can focus the resulting “anger and outrage” to push the idea of a constitutional referendum change through. We can change the bumper sticker debate of “What’s Good for Ireland, Is Good for Europe” or the guilt trip of “We owe the EU, so don’t ask any questions, just vote Yes” into a more focused debate about the fact that this is really a referendum on the future of democracy. If we succeed in changing the constitution, then second referendum votes will be a thing of the past.

What are the bigger picture implications of this strategy for a United Europe?

The short answer is that if Ireland makes this constitutional change, then Ireland can truly lead the way to a more democratic Europe.

Here’s why.

The beauty of direct democracy is that the people can let their leaders legislate with the comfort of knowing that they can step in at any time, create a referendum, and change or “throw out” new or old laws when they begin to affect their lives in a negative way. Also, politicians will not craft unpopular laws when they know the people can step in and throw them out. That creates a much healthier balance of power.

This means that the sovereign Irish people can allow the EU to continue unifying and step in with “line item referendum veto” on future EU laws or competencies that do not serve us. You will not need to understand all the intricacies of each treaty, hardly anyone does, however, you will know that you have the ability to change what it is to live with its result.

My intuition is that if we in Ireland can accomplish this, then

  • Ireland succeeded in strengthening and preserving the Sovereignty of its people
  • Can allow the EU to continue unifying with the comfort of knowing that it has the ability to “push back” on EU and National laws that have an adverse affect on their daily lives.
  • Ireland will “lead the way” in creating the possibility for all democracies in Europe to have the same power
  • Will as a result weaken the EU” super state” goal, with the government controlling the referendum agenda we are still on a path to a super state
  • Will as a result create the outcome of a federated Europe with autonomous direct democracies
  • Will as a result make our national and EU politicians more accountable, they won’t push things through if they know we can step in and throw them out
  • Will most likely strengthen the idea of European wide referendums
  • Will most likely increase citizen participation in local, national and EU politics
  • Will create the opening for Europe to lead the people of the world on how millions of people from many cultures can live together in a more democratic way.

Switzerland has had “direct democracy”, for more than 150 years. Switzerland is a federation of 26 autonomous cantons or provinces (the EU has 27 countries) and are considered the most advanced democracy on the planet. (see link below) They have "direct democracy" on every level of government; local, regional and national. To the Swiss it’s all about preserving and expanding the citizen’s sovereign power of referendum. They will never give up their right to referendum.

To learn more about direct democracy:

http:/www.swissworld.org/dvd_rom/direct_democracy_2005/index.html

My blog: http://european-citizens-initiative.blogspot.com/

Monday 2 June 2008

Internet 2.0, why not Democracy 2.0?

European Reality Check
Internet 2.0, why not Democracy 2.0?
Say No to the Lisbon Treaty – Here’s Why …

It’s time for an EU reality check.

Do we want a Europe that’s forced upon us, a Europe where we have no say, a Europe that is not in the best interests of its people, or do we forge a more democratic Europe with input from its citizens working in conjunction with its leaders. A true public trust.

What we want is a transparent Europe that is for the people. Not a capitalist Europe that can’t balance sustainability with economics or environmental destruction with corporate profits. In the end we only end up hurting ourselves and the future generations who have not been born yet.

Let’s stop being anti-life.

Stop GMO production, stay militarily neutral, promote sustainability and environmental conservation, stop polluting the air, and the water, stop stealing the resources of third world countries, stop killing their people. The resources they have belong to them. Let’s pay a fair price for it. Stand up for what’s right.

Your fore fathers spilt their blood, sacrificing their lives so that you can enjoy freedom from tyranny and oppression. They gave their lives so that you could be free. Through revolution they took the sovereign power from the tyrannical kings and queens and gave it to the people in the form of a constitutional representative democracy. Now we are the Sovereign, we have true democratic people power. Don’t give this power away so easily in the form of the Lisbon Treaty. Holland and France said no to a previous form of it after a heated debate. That’s more than 75 Million people, 1/6 of the citizens of Europe. What is it that they understood?

Do you know what’s in the Treaty. Have you read it? If the people of Ireland say “yes”, and you don’t like living with the result, how are you going to change it. Did you like the result of the Nice treaty? The re-flagging of the Irish Ferries. Do you understand the end game of the European political elite who are pushing for a “yes” vote on the Lisbon Treaty? If we don’t understand what’s in the Treaty, we will certainly know what it’s like to live with its result. Perhaps we will have to pay more taxes or support EU military adventures? Pay for more Nuclear power plants? Perhaps we will have to fight a war started by a future leader in Brussels? Remember with the Lisbon’s treaty version of a United Europe, America only has to make one phone call, not 27 to find partners for another war. Is this what we want? By saying “yes”, do we have a way out? Is electing an EU parliament with no real legislative power the answer? Is giving the EU more sovereign power without political accountability over our lives the answer?

No, what we need is some “push back” on the EU. If the EU can change our constitution from the “top down”, then certainly we can change it from the “bottom up”. What we need is a more improved democracy. Democracy 2.0? Why would we settle for less?

There is another option …

What we need is called “direct democracy”, a democracy where the citizens can gather signatures to force a referendum vote to change the laws that are not in our best interests. To have the power to cause a binding referendum that is created by the people, not the government.

Switzerland has had “direct democracy”, for more than 150 years. Switzerland is a federation of 27 autonomous provinces (the EU has 27 countries) and are considered the most advanced democracy on the planet. (see link below) To the Swiss it’s all about preserving and expanding the citizen’s sovereign power of referendum. They will never give up their right to referendum.

Try to imagine another way.

If the people and not the government had the ability to initiate referendum with a binding outcome, then we can simply let the government do its job, and we could initiate referendum to change what our elected representatives do if we are not happy with the result that they create.

We could add the possibility of citizen initiated referendum to the Irish constitution if we wanted to.

Now imagine how this would impact the European Union.

Ireland with its 4.5 million people is the only country to vote via referendum on the EU Lisbon Treaty. This means that Ireland gets to decide the future democratic fate of the 450 million citizens of the European Union.

This means that if we say No, then Brussels has come back to us, the Irish people, to find out “what we will say yes” to. This means that the people of Ireland are in a very strong position to influence the future of Europe, and in a big way, the eventual political outcome of our fragile planet.

The problem is that the Irish government has the power to initiate referendum, and we saw what happened with the Nice treaty vote, when the government did not like your answer, it wasn’t binding until you voted the way they wanted you to.

Switzerland has referendum also. However in Switzerland the people or the constitution and not the government initiate the referendum. And when the people vote it has a binding out come on the government. When the people of Switzerland say NO, it’s NO.

So here’s the deal. If the people of Ireland would have the ability to initiate referendum, then the people would have pushback on EU law. Like I said before, we do not know what the EU endgame is, but will know what it is to live with its result. So if we did not like an EU law, we could then as citizens nullify it through citizen initiated referendum.

The Lisbon Treaty is the last chance to make a stand, if we say yes, then we lose the power of referendum in the future. This is because the Treaty of Lisbon gives the EU the powers to amend it self in other areas not specifically mentioned in the treaty. This means that they could grant themselves the power to legislate away Ireland’s right to referendum.

So let’s defeat the Lisbon Treaty and work for a change to the Irish constitution, add a new expanded referendum power, “direct democracy”, the ability to gather signatures to cause a referendum to “push back” on the EU and local national laws that don’t serve us.

Let’s not give our Sovereign Powers away so easily, Vote “No” on the Lisbon Treaty.

To learn more the use of referendum in Swiss direct democracy:

http://www.swissworld.org/dvd_rom/direct_democracy_2005/index.html


To express your opinion and have more discussion and organize a “direct democracy” change to the Irish constitution:

http://groups.google.ie/group/irish-referendum?hl=en-GB


Send an email to this group: irish-referendum@googlegroups.com




Sunday 24 February 2008

Why Lisbon Treaty is a Bad for Ireland

1. It puts at risk our automatic right to a referendum on future changes to existing treaties.

2. It gives the EU too much power and reduces our ability to stop decisions that are not in Ireland's interests.

3. It gives 105 additional powers to the EU on issues such as international relations, security, trade and economic policy. And in more than 60 of these areas we will lose our right to stop laws not in our national interest.

4. It creates an EU Foreign Minister and common defence and foreign policies, and allows the EU to act on the international stage in the same way as a state and to speak on our behalf.

5. It erodes neutrality by drawing us into a common defence and obliging us to increase military spending.

6. It cuts our voting strength on the Council of Ministers by more than half.

7. It ends our automatic right to a Commissioner.

8. It seriously undermines workers rights and public services.

9. It mandates the EU to promote nuclear energy.

10. It undermines the EU's commitment to tackling global poverty and inequality.

 

Wednesday 20 February 2008

EU Commission to Approve 5 GMO Crops

Can you really trust the EU Commission to have our best interests at heart?

GreenPeace organizes 1 million signatures against GMO’s Article I-47(4) of the proposed EU Constitution..
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/releases/1-million-europeans-call-for-g

EU Commission likely to approve 5 GM Crops
http://euobserver.com/9/25686/?rk=1

According to Article I-47(4) of the proposed EU Constitution and Lisbon Treaty: "not less than one million citizens who are nationals of a significant number of Member States may take the initiative of inviting the Commission […] to submit any appropriate proposal on matters where citizens consider that a legal act of the Union is required for the purpose of implementing the Constitution

If you can’t trust them on GMOs can you trust on them on EU Defense Policy?

“Are we all clear that we want to build something that can aspire to be a world power?”
EU Commission President Romano Prodi 13/02/2001

Wake Up, We are about to Give Away More Hard Won Irish Sovereignty!!! “We declare the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies to be sovereign and indefeasible” 1916 Proclamation

Is this the kind Europe We Want? Don't Give Your Power Away

All of this comes at a time when Ireland is the only country in the European Union having a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. Ireland's small electorate will decide what the future of democracy looks like for the 450
million people of the European Union.

Video on the Various EU Treaties
http://www.erc2.org/fileadmin/user_upload/vids/erc_-_You_have_to_eat_it_all_16x9__4_MB.wmv

Vote No On the Lisbon Treaty

Sunday 17 February 2008

Lisbon Treaty Upsets the EU Parliament

You basically get the feeling that EU is trying to pull a fast one on us. Hardly anybody has read the Treaty, almost no one read the previous Constitution which the treaty is based on, and now they expect us to ratify a referendum on the treaty in Ireland with almost no debate, other than a few simple sound bytes on why we should.

14.12.2007 - "No" vote on EU treaty would hurt Ireland: Irish PM
Reuters - A "No" vote by Irish voters in next year's referendum on the European Union's reform treaty would isolate Ireland from the bloc, Prime Minister Bertie Ahern said in an interview published on Friday. Ahern told the Irish Times newspaper the government had to "win" the referendum and said a rejection by voters would be "an enormously retrograde step for Ireland in every way".

What does this mean? The treaty is asking us to transfer some of our sovereignty to the EU through referendum and all they can come up with is simple platitudes. I was hoping for a much more vigorous debate. Wouldn't you want to be more informed on a decision that is important enough for a referendum because it affects the Irish Constitution.

Check out this "YouTube Video" on how angry the EU parliament is about how the treaty is being forced upon us ...





Hey if the EU parliament is upset, maybe we should vote "NO", watch out ...

Thursday 14 February 2008

United Sovereign Citizen Power in Action

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.--


Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson, 1776