The Queen of England, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and dozens of other Commonwealth countries will eventually no longer be with us. Charles will probably succeed as far as the UK are concerned, but is it really appropriate to still have a monarchy in other ex-colonial countries?
Here is an alternative. I am happy to acknowledge that I read of this idea in, possibly, an Australian publication some years ago. I think it is based on the ancient Greek system of Democracy. It all starts with a lottery. Crazy? A joke?
Perhaps not. It involves an annual change of Head of State.This is the way it works.
Stage 1. Anyone who is a citizien, can with one hundred nominations, put themselves forward for a lottery. The need for one hundred nominees will ensure a certain commitment to the idea. All nominations then go into a draw, probably televised as an addition to the weekly lottery, very easy, not expensive. A fixed amount, (lets say one hundred) names are drawn.
Stage Two. The one hundred candidates are given a briefing on duties and expectations, security checked to hopefully ensure no later embarrasment, any dropouts at this stage to be replaced with reserves from the lottery.
Stage Three. After a short period of media training, if required, the hopefuls appear on a contest type TV show to narrow the candidates down to about ten would- be presidents.
Stage Four, The ten candidates, who by now should be reasonably well known by the voters, and by the law of averages, not all mad, bad or extremists, would now be enabled to produce a presentation outlining the reasons that the public should vote for them.
Stage Five. Vote, Vote, Vote, The process could be added to a general or local election to save costs. The top three or five candidates could be president for the next three or five years, with a term of one year each, with still some to spare to cover accidents or withdrawals. Brilliant, a truly democratic system to elect a titular head of state who would cover all the usual meet and greet duties, live in a nice house, and provide an ever changing vista of faces for stamps and coins.
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