Thread by @marcdefaoite

What Ireland can show Malaysia 1/n

After the 2020 general election in Ireland it took weeks of negotiations for the three political parties to finally reach an agreement on a draft programme for government.

2/n
Part of the deal involved a plan for the government to have a rotating position of Taoiseach, which is what we call out Prime Minister.
However, for the government to be formed, the members of each party of the three parties had to vote in favour and ratify the deal.

3/n Papers were signed, hands were shaked (shaken? shook?) and the deal was done.

Now Ireland has had two men swapping back and forth, each being Taoiseach for a certain length of time, in an arrangement not dissimilar to the rotating position of Malaysia's Agong, but faster.

4/n And they all lived happily ever after.

Not quite. Each party had to cede ground that they were by inclination and ideology unwilling to cede. Those who seek power want power not power sharing. But sharing is caring and it was arguably the least worst solution.

5/n Yes, It's imperfect, but it also means that voters are more evenly represented in government.

But there's an elephant in the room. This whole arrangement only exists to keep one specific political party from power. All agreed that they didn't want to work with them.

Democracy is a messy businesses. There can never be a perfect solution. Like love, it can't be hurried. It's a game of give and take. In politics no one can be 100% happy except at the cost of others unhappiness. Malaysia has already travelled that path and voted against it. /end