On Monday night, Liberal Vannin hosted a public meeting to enable the public to ask questions to the candidates seeking appointment to Tynwald’s Legislative Council.
The Legislative Council is the “second chamber” of Tynwald – the Manx equivalent of the British House of Lords, or the Senate in the United States and Australia. Unfortunately, Manx people are unable to have a vote on who is appointed to the Legislative Council, with only members of the House of Keys able to vote on the candidates.
In lieu of Manx people being able to have a vote, Liberal Vannin created a public meeting to allow the public to have a say – by questioning and grilling the candidates.
Liberal Vannin hosted a Q&A session at the Manx Blind Welfare headquarters in Onchan, which was almost full to capacity.
Seven of the nine remaining hopefuls were in attendance – Bill Henderson, Haafizah Hoosen, Peter Greenhill, Kerry Sharpe, Rob Mercer, Zahed Miah and Danielle Bell – with Michelle Haywood and Carole Lillywhite unable to be there.
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One of the key issues raised by the public was the structure of the Legislative Council itself. In concluding the meeting, Michael Josem, Chair of Liberal Vannin, said, “Tonight has shown the absurdity of the situation. On Thursday, you have to seek the votes of the House of Keys, and on Monday, you have to scrutinise them.”