When Politicians are scared of their people

"Grundgesetz" Germany's constitution has the provision in its preamble set out by the founding fathers of today's Germany that a new constitution is mandated after German reunification. German reunited on October 3rd 1990. So far no political party has honoured the work of the "Parlamentarische Rat" the body once drafted the "Grundgesetz" in 1949 by presenting a new constitution rather allow continuously to add new articles to the "Grundgesetz", a widely accepted and rarely questioned practice.

The process of reunification has greatly advanced giving space and time to honour the preamble of the Constitution. As no party from left to right of the political spectrum comes forward with a much needed first move it raises the question of " Why not?". Is it not in the best interest of the Germans to vote in a referendum on an updated version of its constitution or is that a mere unnecessary useless exercise?

At the centre of the needed discussions would be two vital issues: the position of the President and the role and power of political parties in the new structure.

Based on the sad history of Nazi Germany it was decided for the new democratic Germany that the President is not supposed to be elected directly by the electorate. 72 years down the line to fear of a return to the dark days of Germany can be seen as a kind of a slap in the face of the electorate making people understand they are not up to democratic maturity. These harsh critics will surely realize that a new constitution would bring about a potential shift in the power structure of the country. Voting for the President directly makes the traditional role of a German Chancellor less important and as a consequence can most likely set back political parties in their importance for the country.

Democracies come in different variations. In Europe, most democracies can be described as Party Democracies rather than People Democracies. Switzerland has made an impressive move to head closer to a People Democracy which is argued that is possible in a country with a small electorate.

When MPs are mandated by the Constitution to submit themselves to the electorate only then this opens up the door for voters to take MPs to court for failing them and force a by-election for the particular seat. What on the surface of the matter seems to be an invitation to create chaos and a country not able to be governed the fear of it is by mostly political parties giving more power of the Democratic process back to the people as in reality such voters rights would not be used in unnecessary excess that could create an inefficient nation. What seems to be like a storm in a water glass and make an aunt look like an elephant is by detailed analysis of all aspects and expectations of citizens in our modern globalized world a fundamental and essential matter as it is about creating a most likely country to reflect the views of the people 1:1 and make it inclusive even to the once not much interested in politics reflected in comments "they up there do anyway what they want whatever I have in my mind".

Politics is very much about signs, gestures, pictures and ideas written in black and white.