Weak opposition lets Government off the hook
With no alternative government in sight and no force in opposition on the current Government, the prospect of positive change is a fading hope.
Opposition parties are in the wilderness on policy formation and leadership, and have yet to let the people know where they stand on a whole range of issues.
The decadence emerging from the failure to provide policy substitutes is a direct result of their partiesâ failed leadership and lack of conviction. Itâs doubtful that the current opposition leadership will produce a Martin Luther King character to inspire a new beginning, and even more doubtful that core voter disenchantment can be cured.
Big opposition parties may fade away altogether over the next decade and become fragments of a bygone political system. The theory that âif you donât grow, youâll wither and dieâ, certainly fits modern-day opposition parties. Many of them could be described as fossils, preserved for posterity.
The absence of a effective opposition has allowed Government policy to slip dangerously to the right; social justice issues such as homelessness and equal opportunity havenât been given the emphasis they deserve.
The current opposition have yet to bring these issues to the boil and they remain lukewarm objectives.
Many people now recognise the two-tier system we live in: the âpublic systemâ being reduced to âlong waiting systemâ, and little pressure on the Government to do anything about it.
The strength of opposition is vital to push a Government to do the job it was elected to do, not to sit on the fence and moan about it. The hammering taken by opposition parties in the recent election will be more severe if they donât pull their socks up and confront the issues of the day head on.
Maurice Fitzgerald,
Shanbally,
Ringaskiddy,
Co Cork.
