A Lack of Definition

There's nothing new in this but Irish politics continues to be covered in the media as a presidential contest,  with challenger Enda up against the incumbent Bertie.  Yes, we like to personalise everything, hence the faux familiarity of first names.  Policy holds little interest for the pundits who regale us with their horse race coverage, although parties themselves are to blame for being a little shy on questions of policy definition.  Meanwhile, as Vincent Browne tartly remarks, "we have entered a 17-month election campaign corridor, where all the important issues will be subsumed into a gossip circus about who will win which seat where, and what conglomeration of like-minded parties will get together to continue things as they are for another five years".

Nevertheless some of the horse race analysis in today's papers point to the inescapable conclusion that clearer policy definition will be needed by the opposition if it is to make further headway.  Alan Ruddock in the Sunday Times poses the following question: So how does Kenny develop the momentum to propel Fine Gael and his putative coalition partner, the Labour party, to a position from which they can credibly claim to be the next government?  Even winning another 20 seats would not be enough to put the Rainbow in office.  Let us assume that the government handle things competently enough and that the economy continues to look good to most people.  Why then will people turn to an opposition that clearly lacks definition in terms of alternative policies?

Fine Gael and Labour have tried to structure the basis of party competition by aligning themselves to each other in a formal pact.  This is a riskier policy for Labour than for Fine Gael as, realistically, the latter can only exist in government in an anti-Fianna Fáil block.  According to the Backroom column in the Sunday Business Post the "mood in the Labour Party is one of general drift. In 2005, Pat Rabbitte's determination to push through his 'I'd rather give myself 1,000 lashes than go into government with Fianna Fáil' policy handed the leadership of the opposition to Fine Gael".

A better explanation for Labour's current torpor is that the party has failed to show signs of advanced strategic thinking and has lost the initiative on key policy issues.  Both Fine Gael and Labour now face a strategic dilemma in terms of policy development; do they carry on policy development as before in a rather peculiar co-operation - competition dynamic or do they take the pact to its logical conclusion and start to announce policy initiatives jointly, thus boosting their credibility as an administration in waiting and showing the voters that there are good reasons for voting for the Rainbow?  This will test both parties in terms of their political communication skills and their ability to formulate policy that is both principled and vote winning. 

Comments

[simon]

Ya the parties are very lacking in policy. Is it possible that they basically agree with the government about everything (major things). But don't want to say that.