E.U. Constitution – the wrong reasons.

Is the majority always right in a democracy?

Well, it is hard to say when it comes to referendums in France. Not so much because the ‘no’ to the Constitutional Treaty is ahead in the polls but because the electorate seems to care very little about the actual question.

Let’s remind ourselves of the question asked:

"Do you approve of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for the European Union?"

Yet the debate taking place in France has little to do with the Constitution itself and everything to do with national political issues. Saying to ‘no’ to the question is actually a way to blindly punish leaders and blame Paris and/or Brussels for everything going wrong. Everything is mixed up and populist politicians are taking advantage of the situation, blaming Europe for everything they haven’t been able to deliver or challenge.

Whether the French choose to vote ‘YES’ or ‘NO’, they should at least do it for the right reasons. They are right to be angry with their government's policies, but they are not right to mix the issues. The referendum needn’t become a mid-term protest vote against an ever more unpopular government. They just have to wait two more years for that.

The other thing I find extremely disturbing is that the ‘NO’ side seems to feed on fear and anger alone. This does not seem to me to be a good reason either. Fear is what extremes and populists use for their own frightening agenda and to promote their sick ideas.

And as Shakespeare once wrote: Present fears are less than horrible imaginings. [Macbeth, I. iii.134]

So whatever the French decide, let them do it for the right reason and let the debates be about the right issues.