Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by rdm_blackhole 969 days ago
Oh come on now, the Lisbon treaty was just a way to bypass the will of the people.

The people answered and the government of France should have listened, instead they came back with this treaty, changed a few tidbits and called it a day.

It was a slap in the face of democracy that was denounced by the right as well as by the left.

To say that this is a complex topic, so surely people don't know how to make up their mind because they may confuse the issue at hand with something else is laughable.

In a presidential campaign, it is perfectly valid to vote for someone because they speak well, wear nice clothes, say the right thing, or promise anything under the sun.

But a referendum should only be valid if people voted only for the question at hand and nothing else? That's very disingenuous.

If a government triggers a referendum and people vote no either because they don't like the proposal or because they don't like the party/government that brings the proposal forward, then this vote is as valid as any.