The Case for Term Limits

Should premiers and prime ministers be limited to two terms in office?

The current political situation in British Columbia gives cause to look at the issue.

Wikipedia says term limits “curb the potential for dictatorships, where a leader effectively becomes ‘president for life’.”

No one would suggest that Premier Campbell was on his way to becoming ‘premier for life’. His time in office was clearly coming to an end.

But if the province had term limit legislation in place, the transition to a new premier would have begun three years ago. This whole HST debacle and the economic and political uncertainty that it has created would have never happened.

If the same government stays in power too long, it is almost certain that it will somehow lose its way. They become too comfortable with the levers of power, and feel invincible after a couple of back-to- back election victories. Eventually they make a mistake, or a series of mistakes.

Old governments tend to act with impunity. New governments tend to be more closely wired to the voters.

“Throw the bastards out!” is the simple solution. But with a two-party legislature, voters can’t always bring themselves to vote for the “other” party.

The best protection against “tired” governments is term limit legislation.

Instead of seeking a third term in 2009, Premier Campbell would have been replaced as leader of the BC Liberals before the election. The new leader probably would have been selected in late 2008.

In fact, about half way through the second term Premier Campbell would have gradually started to become a “lame duck” premier. Instead of bringing on new initiatives, he would have started to loosen the reins so the party could take a fresh look at its policies and begin building a fresh platform for the next election.

There would be minimal uncertainty and more stability because the timing for all of this would have been known in advance – if B.C. had term limit legislation.

The goal of any mainstream political party is to win power and keep it for as long as possible. They do this by building a platform, recruiting candidates and raising money.

It’s important to have strong political parties in our first-past-the-post electoral system. The sudden emergence of new parties and massive swings in the number of seats held by existing parties are amusing fodder for columnists, but it doesn’t make for good government.