Peter

Thanks for linking. While the "40,000" blowjobs are obviously an eye-catcher, Tanja's NEE("No") party is for real: they once called every landline in Antwerp (pop 1 million - I was one of them) to clarify that they really intended to take away votes from Belgian politicians who did not rightfully receive them.

"Nee" will appear on the voting ballots next month, offering voters the option to vote 'no', which means that none of the parties get their vote. As more and more parties have started "famous faces" (a Miss Belgium, sports figures, singers) to pull votes and the associated cash, the democratic process has eroded beyond belief in this country.

Belgium (and Antwerp in particular) has a huge political problem: in order to stop the extreme right wing, coalition governments (who make pre-election deals) make it impossible to "really" choose a clear policy that will actually be carried through.

My Belgians vote for extreme right wing parties out of protest: Tanja's "NEE" ("no") gives them a democratic option to voice their protest.

2007-05-22 15:39 CEST

moeffju

I clarified the post; I meant that the blowjob offer is probably a parody, the party is indeed very real, and I like the idea. We have the same problem in Germany, where not voting means that all parties get proportionally more votes. Voting invalid is different, but few people realize it and even fewer do it. An explicit 'NO' option would improve things IMO.

2007-05-22 23:37 CEST