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Vertaal:
              De „constitutionele staatsgreep“ van Canada en de collectieve media
Zondag, 7 December, 2008
Door Keith Jones | Zijn de collectieve media van Canada „constitutionele staatsgreep“ van één van beide vocally ondersteunende Donderdag - sluiten de minderheids Conservatieve overheid en het unelected gouverneur-algemeen het parlement om de oppositiepartijen de overheid in een niet-vertrouwensstem te verdringen te verhinderen? of houdend een schuldige stilte. ? Nooit in Canada of een ander land dat volgt het Britse parlementaire patroon voorheen een overheid prorogued het parlement heeft om nederlaag in een dreigende niet-vertrouwensstem te vermijden. ? Die Stephen Harper's Conservatieve overheid had de steun van het parlement verloren en nederlaag is incontrovertible onder ogen gezien. De drie oppositiepartijen, wie samen een parlementaire meerderheid en de gekregen wezenlijk meer dan helft van de stemmen in een verkiezing minder dan acht weken geleden, officieel geïnformeerdeb gouverneur-Algemene Micha hebben gehad? lle Jean dat zij de overheid bij de eerst gelegenheid zouden verslaan. Zij hadden ook formeel haar van hun bedoeling op de hoogte gebracht om een afwisselende overheid, een coalitie te vormen liberaal-NDP die door het Blok Qu wordt gesteund? B? cois. ? Aangezien de Eerste Minister Harper klaarblijkelijk de steun van het parlement niet had, het gouverneur-algemeen, volgens al constitutioneel precedent, geen keus dan had om zijn verzoek af te wijzen dat het parlement tot het eind van Januari is gesloten. ? De antidemocratische aard van de Conservatieven' probeert om zich aan macht in uitdagendheid van het parlement vast te klampen verder werd onderstreept door de diepgewortelde, antidemocratische campagne die zij ter voorbereiding van het sluiten van de Donderdag van het parlement hebben opgezet. De conservatieven en hun verdedigers in de collectieve media riepen openlijk chauvinisme anti-Quebec op en etiketteerden de poging van de oppositie om een afwisselende onwettige overheid „te vormen,“ zelfs treasonous. ? Maar eerder dan het vertellen van Harper dat de geen-vertrouwensstemming die voor deze komende Maandag wordt gepland moest te werk gaan, gaf opdracht gouverneur-Algemeen Jean, dat aan de wensen van de uitspraakklasse van Canada buigt, het parlements tot sluiting, daardoor verzekerend de overleving van een overheid zonder de steun van het parlement. ? Gezien de invoer en het ongekende karakter van de acties van Jean, zou men de belangrijke kranten van alle land verwacht hebben dat publiceren hoofdartikelenVrijdag die en hen analyseert critiquing. In feite was er karige redactiecommentaar. ? Voorspelbaar, neo-conservatief Nationale Post en verscheidene andere rechtse mondstukken begroetten het gouverneur-algemeen voor het doen van het „juiste ding.“ ? Maar het grootste deel van de pers was stil. Geen van beiden Bol en Post noch La presse, respectievelijk gaven de invloedrijkste Engelsen en de Frans-Taal dailies, editorially op de het gouverneur-algemeen actie commentaar. ? De Ster van Toronto, a newspaper closely allied with the Liberal Party, stated in passing, in an editorial devoted to urging Harper to pursue a less “adversarial” course, that Jean “probably had no choice but to grant” the prime minister his request for parliament to be prorogued “lest her office be accused of partisanship.” ? The opposition parties, it needs by emphasized, have acted in a like fashion. They have failed to vigorously condemn the shutting down of parliament as a major attack on democratic rights, let alone called on the public to oppose it. As of Friday evening, the web site of the New Democratic Party, Canada’s social-democratic party, carried no statement of any kind on the shutting down of parliament. But it did feature party leader Jack Layton’s tribute to three Canadian Armed Forces soldiers killed Friday in Afghanistan fighting to uphold the US-installed government of Hamid Karzai. ? The media silence has a double-purpose. ? First, to stifle public debate of what has taken place and why. ? Second, to protect the office of the governor-general and the fictions and fabrications that surround it. The representative of the monarch, the governor-general is a supposedly non-partisan and almost exclusively ceremonial institution. In fact, as the events of the past week have demonstrated, the governor-general has vast “reserve” powers, powers that are subject to no legal check. Jean has not, nor will she provide any explanation for her actions. ? The bourgeoisie has maintained this feudal relic precisely so as to arm itself with a means of short-circuiting parliamentary democracy in a time of crisis. And all sections of the bourgeoisie, especially now under conditions of mounting economic crisis and social conflict, are determined to preserve this institution, armed with unlimited constitutional power and utterly insulated from the will of the people. ? Given the general lack of editorial comment on Thursday’s suspension of parliament, the position adopted by editorial board of the Ottawa Citizen is especially revealing. In an editorial titled “The wounded body politic,” the Citizen, conceded that “Canadian democracy” had “sustained long-term damage” as a result of this week’s event, but ultimately argued this damage was the necessary price of preventing the coming to power of a Liberal-NDP government. ? “A fundamental principle of our democracy,” propounded the Citizen, “is that the executive branch cannot govern without the consent and participation of the legislative branch. For the next month and a half, Mr. Harper proposes to govern without a parliament.” The Citizen went on to warn that future governments “can now try to escape” parliament’s judgment by appealing to the governor-general. ? These concerns were raised, however, only to be smartly dismissed: “Practically speaking proroguing parliament will probably make for a better few months for the country, and for the economy, than the alternative that the Liberals and NDP had planned.” ? In truth, the Liberals and NDP were planning to form a right-wing government committed to Canada continuing to play a leading role in the Afghan war till the end of 2011 and to implementing the Conservatives’ plan to slash corporate taxes by more than $50 billion over five years. ? But the most powerful sections of the bourgeoisie preferred a government of unabashed reaction and toward that end were quite ready to run roughshod over parliamentary norms and democratic rights. ? Whilst the editorial pages largely avoided commenting on the shutting down of parliament, the dailies did publish many copy-inches of reportage. The common refrain of this reportage was that the governor-general had called a “time out.” ? The “time out” metaphor has a very definite political significance. It is meant to lull the population to sleep, to foster the notion that little, if anything, of significance has taken place and everything will, in any event, soon go back to normal because parliament has merely been “suspended.” ? The truth is otherwise. The suspension of parliament and of MPs’ right to defeat and replace the sitting government strikes at the most fundamental democratic principle?the right of the people to choose their own government. ? If not overturned by a movement from below, Canada’s constitution, through the power of precedent, will have been rewritten and the powers of the executive, of both the sitting government and of the governor-general, to ignore parliament and rule by decree will have been significantly increased. ? As for the question of “suspension,” this is precisely how democratic rights are taken away. Governments moving in an authoritarian direction don’t generally outright abolish democratic rights; they “suspend” them, claiming that they need to be temporarily withdrawn so as to confront a purported crisis or emergency. ? Working people must take heed: The corporate media’s support for the constitutional coup engineered by the Conservatives and the governor-general attests to the fact there is no significant constituency within the ruling class committed to the defence of constitutional principles and democratic rights. Have Your Say: Canada’s “constitutional coup” and the corporate media Please read our posting guidelines before posting. Alternatively you can discuss this report here. Related News
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