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Labour’s Little Red Rule Book
Date 15th April 2008
Press Release
For Immediate
Release. Labour’s Little Red Rule Book
Robert Mugabe could learn a few tricks from the Clark government about how to invent laws that will give the ruling party underhand advantages, says Republicans Deputy Leader Bevan Berg.
It is obvious that Labour’s latest idea, to use pamphlets produced by government departments, is exactly what the Clark government had in mind when it passed the Electoral Finance Act (EFA).
“Did Mike Williams immediately text his resignation to the PM, or did he understand his actions were already written into Labour’s Little Red Rule Book,”asks Berg?
“The Labour Party’s behaviour has prompted the Public Service Association to defend its independence, and I commend their commitment to democracy and to the integrity of the public service,” says Berg.
“The EFA deliberately avoids placing any limits on what government departments might do to promote the ruling party. The Act’s regulations just happen to restrict and complicate everything that opposition parties are able to do in campaigning against government, but leave the incumbent ruling party able to use the nation’s bureaucrats to build an election image.”
“What we are seeing here is absolute duplicity. It’s the Little Red Rule Book for Labour and the Electoral Finance Act for the rest of the Electorate,” concludes Berg.
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