The Capital Letter - by BerlinBear
Bring on the republic I say. I’m sure trying to explain to the Swiss is no easier than explaining to Germans that our head of State is Elizabeth. And then trying to convince them that there *actually is* a constitutional nuance/difference between Liz being the head of the United Kingdom on the one hand and head of New Zealand on the other hand makes a bizarre situation seem quite absurd. And so I'm left with the rather hollow sounding plea that 'yes we really are an independent nation…you just have to trust me on this one...' More than once this plea has been met with incredulity.
I have nothing against the Queen per se. If the Brits want to continue having her as their head of State then I wish them all the best.
My solution to dealing with the monarchy nonsense is to put a new head of state in place, (I use head of state in preference to president which has altogether too many George Bush connotations these days) who is appointed much the same way as the GG and has the same powers as the GG. I definitely don't want a single elected leader with a mandate of their own as the MMP system with a Cabinet and PM works very well if you ask me. And as we don't have a written constitution, the whole process shouldn't be too hard to affect. It has been a long time since I read the Ozzy constitution, but that is a stumbling block they have that we don't have to deal with. And given the flexibility of our constitution, we could make this happen and continue not to have a constitution.
I'm opposed to the monarchy not only because it strikes me as incongruous that we have a foreigner as, technically speaking, the most powerful person in the land (she can theoretically disband Parliament and fire the Prime Minister) but also because the existence of a monarchy creates and defines a class based system and society which is entirely at odds with my Kiwi sensibilities (why should some someone simply by chance of birth have the responsibility of ruling and leadership forced upon them and the fantastic wealth that comes with it. I realise the same could unfortunately be said of Paris Hilton and is in and of itself a perfect example of the point I'm trying to make here....imagine it, Princess Paris Hilton....gives me the willies just thinking about it) and (finally) also because it destroys the lives of all people born into the family. They can never have a normal life in any sense of the word of the word as we understand it. What right do we have to take a normal life away from people? At least in the case of celebrities they chose to put themselves in the limelight.
And what about the fact she holds the office at her own pleasure. Reminds me of a certain departed resident of the Vatican who was virtually dribbling at the end of his reign but refused to 'abdicate'. Don't get me wrong, I'm only partly blaming the Pope, I realise he had Sycophants that had their own reasons for not convincing/forcing him to step aside. But what
KiZ: Nice to hear from you again. Unfortunately, it would appear that your essay comment got cut off mid-sentence. If you get a chance, do post the rest of it, as best you can remember. I was reading with interest.
I was on quite a rant there....
I think my point about holding the job at her own pleasure relates to the fact that she is 80 years old (older than most of us can expect to live statistically, which is of course not a reason in and of itself to retire/abdicate) and is not answerable to anyone. And clearly the institution around her has no interest in her abdicating. I assume she is a reasonable person and would listen to if not accept the advice she received, and I therefore take it that she has not been advised to step down. A gruelling day of attending functions/galas/openings and so on can't be easy even for a spritely 80 year old. If that is the case, then shouldn't someone who is phyisically more able to deal with the stresses of the job, perform it? But then, no, because I assume she doesn't want to pass the crown on. And who can make her do it? Give me a rotating non-partisan, well loved, educated, cultural head of state who can give the job their best for, say five years and then pass it onto someone else. I had the opportunity to meet Cath Tizard when I was awarded the Duke of Ed award, and I would much rather have had her present me with the award for all of the previous mentioned reasons than a monarch who has been to my country less times than I've been to hers, and she is more than twice my age.
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