Democracy takes Cullen down a peg on e-voting

Absent friends and new alliances played an intriguing role in the Government’s humiliating climbdown on electronic voting.

Getting together for the first time to collectively oppose a Government policy, Fine Gael, Labour and the Green Party almost instantly chalked up a minor victory.

Reminiscent of the far-off and long-forgotten days of the Rainbow Coalition, the leaders of the Blue, Red and Green alliance, Enda Kenny, Pat Rabbitte and Trevor Sargent stepped out side by side and showed marginal signs of actually getting their act together by putting up a united front to champion the cause of democracy.

Absent from the bonhomie was Sinn Féin, who, while hurt by the lack of an invitation from Fine Gael to join the party, still supported the stance on electronic voting.

Also absent from Leinster House yesterday was Minister for Environment Martin Cullen. Mr Cullen was on official duty, representing the nation at a UN and EU bio-diversity conference.

In his absence, his Cabinet chums in particular his former colleagues in the Progressive Democrats did a sterling job of illustrating the shambolic manner in which the minister, on behalf of the Government, handled the roll-out of electronic voting.

To describe the humiliating climbdown as a complete victory for the united opposition would not do justice to the manner in which the Government shot itself in the foot and caused the debacle.

The arrogant manner in which Mr Cullen pressed ahead with his plans disregarded the minor details of the legislative mechanism required to make it legal.

The cracks in the Government's position began to emerge at dawn as Tánaiste Mary Harney underwent a Damascene conversion on e-voting and suddenly sympathised with those expressing valid concerns when questioned by Today FM on the issue.

"There are issues clearly that have been raised in relation to verifying the vote and I have sympathy with that perspective. I don't think it's a good idea to have controversy in what is after all an important area," she said.

Strange, then, that the night before the Tánaiste didn't avail of the opportunity to express any reservations when her spokesman said the PDs wholeheartedly supported the Government policy.

Indeed, around the same time that evening, the Taoiseach was also staunchly defending electronic voting from sustained attack.

Yesterday in a display of affection towards their opposition colleagues, the Government suddenly made a raft of concessions. Forget about concessions this was an appalling climbdown which exposed the inept manner with which the implementation has been undertaken.

Let's cast our minds back to the lavish launch of Mr Cullen's pet project just a fortnight ago and his arrogant dismissal of any criticism whatsoever.

Ignoring the host of objections from the parties who legitimately contribute to democracy in this country, the minister said it wasn't driven by Martin Cullen, Fianna Fáil or Government but rather the political will.

"This is what the Oireachtas has chosen to do. This isn't some sort of zealot approach to the system on my behalf," he said.

How ironic those sentiments now appear.

The flaws emerged the following day when it emerged the minister was still seeking the advice of the Attorney General on the way to make the process legal. After the High Court ruling on Carrickmines, a major question mark had been placed on the use of ministerial orders to give effect to decisions, but this didn't stop Mr Cullen from proceeding with his €4.5 million publicity campaign for his €40m programme.

Hopefully, the experience of the past fortnight will prove to be a chastening experience and will knock Mr Cullen back down to size.