- - - - - - - - -Yesterday [Tuesday Sept. 2] in the European Parliament a hearing took place with Declan Ganley, president of the Irish think-tank “Libertas” and one of the initiators of the successful NO campaign in Ireland against the new EU treaty that severely affects national sovereignty. In the presence of Koen Dillen and Philip Claeys, European parliamentarians for the Vlaams Belang [Flemish Interest], the flamboyant Irishman urged the leaders of the EU to respect the democratic “No” vote of the Irish people and “to leave [the treaty] in the grave where the Irish have rightly placed it.”
The fact that other countries continue the ratification process didn’t impress him that much. “A country that does not give its citizens a chance to express their opinion in a referendum has no right to speak.” This obviously applies also to Belgium and Flanders, where the Open VLD, once quite a fan of referenda, didn’t want a referendum on the EU treaty…
It was noteworthy that Declan Ganley quoted one particular example of undemocratic behavior by the European “elite”: Jean-Luc Dehaene [Christian Democrat MEP]. This Dehaene declared in a committee that arguments against the treaty were not allowed to be made public, because this would support the Irish NO campaign. “Who seeks to hold arguments out of an open debate is undemocratic,” said Declan.
This yet again demonstrates the difference between a free country like Ireland and the rottenness of Belgium: practices that are a daily occurrence here, like the concealment of relevant information and population figures, are in a truly free country like Ireland rightly seen as undemocratic.
VH adds this:
“We know that nine out of ten people will not have read the Constitution and will vote on the basis of what politicians and journalists say. More than that, if the answer is No, the vote will probably have to be done again, because it absolutely has to be Yes.”
—Quote from Jean-Luc Dehaene, Former Belgian Prime Minister, Vice-President of the EU Convention, Irish Times, 2 June 2004.
3 comments:
You can have any color you want, as long as it's black.
Yet further confirmation that Europe's masters, despite superficial homages to democracy and constitutionalism, have never truly abandoned the Society of Status. What they want is privileged above what their subjects reject, no matter how often or how loudly their subjects reject it.
With one thing and another, Europe's bills are coming due. Let's hope they won't be paid in blood.
I voted no because of what I've been reading here for some years. Most other Irish people haven't got a clue what's happening to Sweden,Denmark, Norway and Holland. The three biggest political parties were telling them to vote yes and 53% still voted no. The two biggest newspaper editorials were saying we would be mad to vote no and they've been scolding us as loutish idiots ever since. The Irish government are desperate to placate their euro masters. They've discussed a second referendum ( ie: keep voting until you get it right) and taken legal advice on whether they can force parts of the treaty through the parliament. if Ganly runs for election In Ireland, he's got my vote.
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