Friday, 2 October 2009Today, around three million Irish citizens go to the polls for the second referendum to decide whether to ratify the Lisbon treaty. Polling stations have opened across the country and the voting will continue from 7 am to 10 pm. During the day, there will not be any exit polling. The counting will begin tomorrow at 9 am local time and it is expected that the results will be released early Saturday afternoon.
In the first referendum held on 12 June 2008, the Irish people said no with 53.4%. However, according to opinion polls, the treaty will pass in the second referendum. The “yes” campaign in the country is supported by almost all of the main parties in addition to other influential civil society groups like “Ireland for Europe”. Moreover, the EU leaders, like European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek, have recently declared their support for the “yes” campaign by visiting Ireland. The most significant opposition for the treaty comes from republican Sinn Féin, lobby group Libertas, the People Before Profit Alliance, and the Socialist Party.
Yesterday, in order to engage the people’s attention towards the referendum, Taoiseach (the head of government in Ireland) Brian Cowen said that, “[t]he outcome will determine the future direction of our country and I am urging people to go out and vote and to think clearly before making this vital decision.” He then added, “[w]ith a Yes vote, Ireland will retain the confidence that it is a positive and influential member of the union, and the union will be allowed to move forward to tackle urgent problems. With a No vote, confidence in Ireland will inevitably suffer.”
However, according to Sinn Féin, Vice-president Mary Lou McDonald, “[t]his is a bad treaty negotiated by an incompetent government and if it goes through, it will seriously undermine Ireland’s position within the EU. A Yes vote will mean the loss of our automatic right to a commissioner, a massive reduction in our voting strength on the Council of Ministers and the handing away of our right to a referendum. If we hand this power away tomorrow, we won’t get it back.”
The current situation in Ireland is quite different than June 2008 when the first referendum was held since the global financial crisis harshly affected the Irish economy. According to some experts, the Irish citizens don’t prefer a No vote which may cause further turmoil in the country.
The Republic of Ireland is the only country which held referendums on the Treaty of Lisbon in the EU; however, the Czech Republic and Poland have also not ratified the treaty yet.
If the treaty is ratified by all members, it will take effect in the EU. The Treaty will streamline the EU institutions by amending previous treaties. The extension of the qualified majority voting (QMV), the creation of a President of the European Council and a High Representative for Foreign Affairs will be some important changes in the EU structure.
Yilmaz KAPLAN (JTW)
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Friday, 2 October 2009
Journal of Turkish Weekly
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