Crossing a line

It’s that time of the year again — floor-crossing season. Well, that time, every two years, actually, when MPs are — for reasons still elusive to me — allowed to throw out of the window their commitment to their political party (some say their honour) and happily join ranks with those who were their political rivals only yesterday.

I have to say that each time, what is so rightly called the silly season leaves me baffled all over again. Surely — in an ideal world — one would join a political party out of commitment to its values and strategies and therefore not be able to chop and change willy-nilly one’s alliances whenever convenient (and a good career move).

South Africans cast their vote for a political party (rather than individual members of that party) and seats are allocated to that party’s members according to the number of votes. During floor-crossing season, politicians — elected through their party, remember! — can then align themselves with a different political party (and different political values) and keep the seat they were allocated because citizens voted for the party they are now abandoning!

Does this make any sense? It basically boils down to politicians reallocating votes as they please and thereby ignoring voters’ choices. No wonder that the numbers of South Africans making use of their right to vote is in constant decline. And this after the majority of the population only recently won the right to vote in the first place (in the history of electoral franchise, 13 years ago is very, very recent).

Floor-crossing is a self-serving strategy that deliberately ignores that politicians should firstly serve the people (and not themselves). It’s about status, power and money rather than representing voters. It is one of the most blatant examples of double standards in politics.

And if all of this sounds too damn idealistic for some … suit yourselves. Being jaded about the fact that some pillars of our democracy people fought for so hard are already starting to crumble is not an option for me. I want our politicians to be accountable, transparent, reliable and responsible and, quite frankly, I don’t think it’s too much to ask. It’s what is expected of any boss, employee, parent, relative or friend. So why cut slack for those who represent our nation?