Sir,– Regardless of when the next election is called, my vote will go to any party which pledges to introduce fixed-term parliaments. The “will he or won’t he call an early election?”, which has been going on for at least a year and has reached fever pitch over the last couple of weeks, is not only distracting and time-wasting but is also guaranteed to increase already record levels of cynicism among voters.
Let’s take this arbitrary power from the taoiseach of the day. No matter what his or her political persuasion, he or she is bound to use it for personal and party interest, whatever guff we hear of “the national interest”.
Put the power in the Constitution and we will never have to go through this unseemly pantomime again.– Yours, etc,
JOHN POOLE,
Dublin 8.