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Rabbitte Wants Fianna Fail Out of Office-Almost
Read more about: Coalition, Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Irish Election, Labour Party, Uncategorized
I’m minded to agree with Gerry that this fourth or fifth day of Labour-Fianna Fail stories is tearing the arse out of it. But some of it is of Labour’s own making in being definite late on. Its not about factions preferring Fine Gael and factions preferring Fianna Fail but being definite and doing it consistently. Gerry’s post best analyses the story so far;
“How is it “emerging as a key issue”? Because they report that it is. It’s a circular process. Journalists start talking or asking questions about hypothetical situations and they become true in the sense that they are being speculated about - by those same journalists! “In particular it has left many floating voters confused about Labour’s true intentions”. Is there any evidence of such confusion? I imagine that most informed floating voters know perfectly well that the Labour leadership want to remove Fianna Fáil and the PDs from office and are attempting to structure the election campaign around a clear choice between two alignments of parties.”
Gerry concludes Pat is righting the wrongs of Ruairi Quinn who hedged his bets in ‘02-turning the election into ‘who will accompany Fianna Fail?’. “Rabbitte is doing his best to make sure that this is not the case in 2007.”
However the media are reluctant to think so and Rabbitte has been anything but convincing that in the event of a hung Dail he will avoid Fianna Fail. To my mind this is natural politics. No matter how many accords are entered into and agreements made before the vote, any party desires to be in power after an election. Where Labour may (or may not) bring policy formulated with FG to bear on a FF-Lab government it will hardly rule out being in power bar the single opportunity presented by Fine Gael.
Realistic chance or not, the option remains open and will remain open. It is both news and non-news. News if one considers Mullingar and the ever closer union between Fine Gael and Labour. Non-news if one considers the logic of political parties.
Only the Independent consider this so serious. They have blatantly misrepresented what Rabbitte has said (see the actual text of the interview he gave them on http://www.labour.ie), and are continuing to do so.
I can break a confidence to tell everyone that I know for a fact that if Labour get an overall majority themselves that the Mullingar accord is completely off. I expect to see this shocking new to be splashed across the indo tomorrow.
If FF get an overall majority it is a certainity that they will succeed in their aim of forming a single party government, shockingly this is the intention of FG!
The big factor here is in seats where it is likely to come down to FF versus FG for the last seat, FF want Labour voters to transfer to them so that the Rainbow doesn’t have the numbers and that somehow FF will reward Labour by bring them into government. Yet they have had two chances to do this in 1997 and 2002 and bought times went with the PDs.
I agree with you keith its not a story. True Pat’s statement was interpreted to suit the indo but his responses are giving legs to the non-story. As Dan says, its the logic of parties to want power. It shouldnt surprise that bets are being hedged (half-heartedly) in order to preserve the options after an election.
I dont doubt he is committed to the FG-Lab option first but if that fails he (and any other party) want open option.
I have an idea, why if Pat says that were it the case that both Enda and Bertie (and Caoimhin O’Caolain possibly) fail to be elected as Taoiseach that the Dail should recess for a week and Pat will put his own name forward and if FF TDs are prepared to support him as Taoiseach that he would be prepared to allow some of them to serve in a Labour led government. All in the national interest of course.
political anoraks best week ever. That would be some viewing.