National seeks referendum on MMP, and a return to "elective dictatorship".

The Dom-post recently reported that the National Party is seeking a referendum to find out whether the public wants to continue with MMP, or move to another system.

Publicly, John Key is saying ... "I don't think they'll go back to first past the post.", and that the public will probably vote in another "proportional system".

But given past efforts by the right's backers, aimed at opposing power-sharing systems, we can expect that if National puts our electoral system on the chopping block there will be a huge campaign for a return to a "two party" system. After all, it was this system that allowed National to rule alone in 1993 with just 35% of the popular vote, while the two major left-wing parties combined received 52% of the vote.

Further, because a party could rule alone, it could pursue its own agenda, unchecked and unmoderated by other parties.

These two aspects of the system combined lead to the situation in the 1990s, where a small group of people within the National Party cabinet were able to push through very publicly unpopular, and radical legislation such as the Employment Contracts Act and sale of NZ rail (neither of which were foreshadowed in their 1990 election manifesto).

It was these aspects of the First Past the Post system that caused academic Andrew Mulgan to refer to it as an elective dictatorship.

It would be a huge step backwards for New Zealand's democracy if we were to return to this system, and despite the soothing words of John Key, one would be foolish to believe that an agenda doesn't underly his intention to hold this referendum. Yet another good reason for us to stay clear of a National-led government.