A prophet in Brussels

I have to admit I'm a floating elector. There simply is no political party that I really get excited about and that fully matches my convictions, though a few that stir something in my heart. In this respect political parties have a lot in common with established churches. Both tend to be boring, parochial and breeding group-think; both are thinking short-term and have difficulty embracing innovation and reformation; both seem to be concerned with politics more than with real-life; both charge you money to become a member; both run a maintenance-oriented program that will likely never change the world.

My light scepticism (mind you, I still call this light) is even magnified when I look at the European Union, with it's heavy-paid, hyper-bureaucratic and more and more un-democratic power base in Brussels. Some call it the European Soviet Union, just to set the tone. This week we have elections again for the European Parliament, and although normally I keep on floating until Election Day, this time I already made up my mind some years ago. How come?

When in 1998 whistle blower Paul van Buitenen revealed the corruption going on in the European Union, I thought: "That man has guts, if he ever starts a political party, I will vote for him." Only later I heard that he blew the whistle because of Christ - he simply could not turn his head away when facing power politics, fraud and injustice. As a result the whole Commission fell, and Van Buitenen was put on a side-track and discriminated because of his 'lack of loyalty'.

In the media Van Buitenen recently stated: "Jesus Christ is my inspiration. He was a radical man of action who disliked the establishment, fought against injustice and lived among the poor and oppressed." And about the established Christian parties: "They are dogmatic and conservative, and tend to turn away their heads when they see corruption. I rather work with non-Christians who follow their conscience, then with Christians who don't." Ough!

Several months ago Van Buitenen started a political party - Europa Transparant - to join the upcoming elections. It's a one-issue party for a transparant, democratic Europe. Honest government, justice and integrity in dealing with subsidies and budgets. A reformation (or conversion) of the system. It's David against Goliath, Elijah against Jezebel, Neo against the system. So yes, I will put my vote on him, my little contribution to the 130,000 votes he needs for a seat in Parliament.

Second best for me would be the Socialist Party or the Christian Union. I've been following Jan Marijnissen's weblog over the past months, and it's pretty cool. He's the first politician to publish a specification of his salary on the web. Besides that, the socialists answer their e-mail within a day, which is compelling for a heavy internet user like me. The Christian Union is also pretty fast and up-to-date, and strong on environmental issues, but they have lousy weblogs.

Comments

[Detlef SCHWAGER]

Ref: Europa Transparant

Dear Sir,
I am a former employee of the EC and tried to correct during my job wrong doing/corruption in an €M14 Aid-Project (EDF) for a sewerage project on Bonaire (Netherland Antilles). Unfortunately, I had the similar problems within the EC-system like Mr. Paul van Buitenen.

Kindly send E-mail-address of EUROPA TRANSPARANT. The web-page is not functioning. http://www.europatransparant.nl

Thanks in advance.

Best Regards,
Detlef SCHWAGER
MSc. Tropical Water Engineering

former Infrastructure Project Manager for Aruba and Netherland Antilles