No disabled in Parliament

Disability and mobility issues within the TRNC. Help and information from members regarding problems faced with access issues within the TRNC as well as other information required concerning disability matters.

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Ragged Robin
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No disabled in Parliament

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Post by Ragged Robin »

According to Saturday's Cyprus Today, there were seven disabled candidates for the general election., representing several parties.. The good news is that is a record number of candidates, the bad that none of them got in!!!!

I can just hear the Brit contingent saying "that is Cypriot's for you", but in fact it is not: as individuals it has been my experience that most Cypriots are considerably more caring then most British expats. However their experience as a nation is very very short, and they have perhaps not yet learned collective responsibility.

There will also be the usual comments that there is nothing we can do. There is. We can set an example of caring for the less fortunate individuals in our own community - one way is for those using restaurants and other communal facilities, particularly the ones with "clout" who can offer large numbers of customers and positive publicity, such as Charities, to make it clear that they expect their venues to comply with basic human rights of the disabled in areas such as disabled parking and toilets. We are, after all mainly an aging population, and sadly even the fittest bodies deteriorate with age, and many would be glad of , say, toilets on restaurant floor level, As for handrails on steps they are a must for health and safety reasons for all of any age or state of health.
ee
I an not suggestubg North Cyprus should lose its individuality or customs and copy the "nanny state" that used to exist in the UK, nor adopt some of the sillier of the EU regulations. However if we must have the disadvantages of so-called "progress" at least we should also try to ensure that those who need them benefit from some of the advantages.

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PoshinDevon
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Re: No disabled in Parliament

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Post by PoshinDevon »

RR

Whilst I may agree with some of your comments, being disabled, white, black, gay etc is not a prerequisite for getting elected. That should not be part of the decision process when voting for someone.
It’s about the party they represent, the policies they put forward and whether or not you as the individual feel they represent your needs and aspirations.

Maybe those disabled candidates and what they stand for did not appeal to the voter?
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kbasat
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Re: No disabled in Parliament

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Post by kbasat »

UK has 5 disabled MPs out of 650

N.Cyprus only has 50MPs total.

Can someone calculate how many disabled MPs we were supposed to elect to be 'as good as' the UK?
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Keithcaley
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Re: No disabled in Parliament

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Post by Keithcaley »

kbasat wrote:UK has 5 disabled MPs out of 650

N.Cyprus only has 50MPs total.

Can someone calculate how many disabled MPs we were supposed to elect to be 'as good as' the UK?
Let's see, 5 divided by 650 = 0.0076923076923077, multiply by 50 = 0.3846153846153846 ... so, just over one third of a person then...

One half of Warwick Davis maybe?

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Re: No disabled in Parliament

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Post by Ragged Robin »

Thanks for doing the Maths, Keith, but to get a fair comparison would you not need to know the number of candidates in each country as a percentage of the total enfranchised electorate in each country ?

Whilst I take Posh's point, and as a general rule I dislike "positive discrimination" (particularly in the case of positions of public service), I do think in the case of the disabled some action is needed to redress the imbalance which prejudice against the disabled gives rise to. This prejuice definitely exists , both among the British and Turkish Cypriot populations and establishments (and no doubt others) . There is also the point that some disabled may be actually excluded from serving an MP by physical constraints, such as stairs in many cases, and lack of support facilities in the case of those with sight or hering problems. It becomes a vicious circle! How are we to get better treatment and facilities for the disabled if they have no representation at National level? In the long term better educational facilities and physical support will help the disabled to compete on a "level playing field".

That, however, is taking time in the UK and will take longer in the TRNC. My reason for starting this thread is to emphasise that an expatriate community (who are not qualified to vote anyway) can do our little bit by pressing for improvement in facilities for disabled generally and in particular taking steps (no pun intended) to ensure that they are able to take part in expariate social activities such as Charity functions.

lt is somewhat ironic that the TRNC, as a country founded because of ill-treatment (to put it mildly) of one particular minority does not do more to help another minority!

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PoshinDevon
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Re: No disabled in Parliament

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Post by PoshinDevon »

Ragged Robin wrote:Thanks for doing the Maths, Keith, but to get a fair comparison would you not need to know the number of candidates in each country as a percentage of the total enfranchised electorate in each country ?

Whilst I take Posh's point, and as a general rule I dislike "positive discrimination" (particularly in the case of positions of public service), I do think in the case of the disabled some action is needed to redress the imbalance which prejudice against the disabled gives rise to. This prejuice definitely exists , both among the British and Turkish Cypriot populations and establishments (and no doubt others) . There is also the point that some disabled may be actually excluded from serving an MP by physical constraints, such as stairs in many cases, and lack of support facilities in the case of those with sight or hering problems. It becomes a vicious circle! How are we to get better treatment and facilities for the disabled if they have no representation at National level? In the long term better educational facilities and physical support will help the disabled to compete on a "level playing field".

That, however, is taking time in the UK and will take longer in the TRNC. My reason for starting this thread is to emphasise that an expatriate community (who are not qualified to vote anyway) can do our little bit by pressing for improvement in facilities for disabled generally and in particular taking steps (no pun intended) to ensure that they are able to take part in expariate social activities such as Charity functions.

lt is somewhat ironic that the TRNC, as a country founded because of ill-treatment (to put it mildly) of one particular minority does not do more to help another minority!
At the end of the day if you put yourself up for election whether you be black, white, gay, disabled etc it is because you believe you can help represent the wishes of the people and can possibly make a difference. Access or facilities at places they may work should initially not come into it. Mr Joe Public isn’t interested, they want whoever they elect to do the job they elected them for. If there are challenges to overcome once they are elected then so be it.

You need to get elected first based on your principles and whether you can convince the electorate that you will be able to help them have a better life. Once elected the challenges of access, facilities etc at your place of work can then be faced and highlighted. Getting elected is the first hurdle and it is good that there were a record number of disabled candidates that put themselves up for election - the fact is that their message did not appeal to the electorate.
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Keithcaley
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Re: No disabled in Parliament

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Post by Keithcaley »

RR wrote:...to get a fair comparison would you not need to know the number of candidates in each country as a percentage of the total enfranchised electorate in each country ?...
The actual number of disabled candidates in the UK is not known with any degree of accuracy, although it is reported that numbers were 'down on previous elections' - figures for the major parties were in the order of 1% of candidates, which then represents a vanishingly small fraction of the 50 odd million total population (I don't have a figure for the enfranchised).

Considering that the total population of TRNC is in the 'hundreds of thousands', and that those entitled to vote probably number around 250,000 (at a guess), then it seems likely that the number of disabled candidates in TRNC represent a higher proportion of the enfranchised than in the UK.

The fact that none of them were elected would seem to indicate that their policies did not appeal to the electorate, for whatever reason.

I am unable to draw any more conclusions from the bare facts as presented, and if anyone can provide better statistics, enlighten us further, or show a flaw in my reasoning, then I would welcome your input : )

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Re: No disabled in Parliament

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Post by Ragged Robin »

Thanks Keith... I bow to your superior knowledge (in the matter of maths and statistics) and your reasoning (in this instance)makes sense to me. I also would be interested if anyone has further details.

Posh: But the disabled ARE part of "Joe Public", and in many cases are also taxpayers contributing to public services and to MPs salaries! Do you not think they should have representation. The assumption that the failure to elect them was because of their policies on other issues - I am afraid just illustrates the prejudice there is against disabled people. If they cant be representated at all in Parliament how do you think their needs can be catered for, or do think they should just be left to suffer?

kerry 6138
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Re: No disabled in Parliament

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Post by kerry 6138 »

https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers ... -state--48

Responsibilities

The minister’s responsibilities include:

cross-government disability issueswork and health strategy, including sponsorship of the Joint Work and Health Unitdisability employment, including Disability Confident, Work Choice, Access to Work, the Work and Health Programme and mental health in the workplacesupport for those at risk of falling out of work, including occupational health and Statutory Sick Payfinancial support for sick and disabled claimants, including withinUniversal CreditDisability Living AllowancePersonal Independence PaymentEmployment and Support AllowanceAttendance AllowanceIndustrial Injuries Disablement Benefitspecific welfare and health-related issues, including Motability and arms-length compensation schemesoversight of the Health and Safety Executive and the Office for Nuclear Regulation

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PoshinDevon
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Re: No disabled in Parliament

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Post by PoshinDevon »

Ragged Robin wrote:Thanks Keith... I bow to your superior knowledge (in the matter of maths and statistics) and your reasoning (in this instance)makes sense to me. I also would be interested if anyone has further details.

Posh: But the disabled ARE part of "Joe Public", and in many cases are also taxpayers contributing to public services and to MPs salaries! Do you not think they should have representation. The assumption that the failure to elect them was because of their policies on other issues - I am afraid just illustrates the prejudice there is against disabled people. If they cant be representated at all in Parliament how do you think their needs can be catered for, or do think they should just be left to suffer?
You get elected by those voting, if your message does not strike a chord with the electorate then you won’t get elected. You can be gay, black, Muslim, Hindu, disabled or whatever - you have to get people to vote for you. Maybe those Joe Public who are disabled never voted for the disabled candidate. The disabled candidates never received enough votes. It’s as simple as that.

There is no prejudice as far as I can understand and nobody is just being left to suffer.
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Ragged Robin
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Re: No disabled in Parliament

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Post by Ragged Robin »

Thanks Kerry. That is very interesting. However in my opinion there still needs to be some method of putting the needs and problems of the disabled to the Minister. And of course it relates only to the UK, I dont know if there is an equivalent position in the TRNC cabinet?

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Re: No disabled in Parliament

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Post by Ragged Robin »

In view of my anger and distress at the content, tone and repetition (without apparent consideration of other poster's representations) and the position the poster concerned holds, I think it better I retire from this thread and neither post nor read on it any more.

In any case it is going off topic as my intention in raising the subject was not really to discuss electoral issues but to encourage people to support better treatment of disabled people. I am really sad that I have obviously failed miserably.

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Re: No disabled in Parliament

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Post by PoshinDevon »

Ragged Robin wrote:In view of my anger and distress at the content, tone and repetition (without apparent consideration of other poster's representations) and the position the poster concerned holds, I think it better I retire from this thread and neither post nor read on it any more.

In any case it is going off topic as my intention in raising the subject was not really to discuss electoral issues but to encourage people to support better treatment of disabled people. I am really sad that I have obviously failed miserably.
The title of this topic is “No disabled in Parliament” and the opening sentence was “According to Saturday's Cyprus Today, there were seven disabled candidates for the general election., representing several parties.. The good news is that is a record number of candidates, the bad that none of them got in!!!! “

To me this was a thread questioning why there were not more disabled candidates elected. Maybe I got it wrong.
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Ragged Robin
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Re: No disabled in Parliament

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Post by Ragged Robin »

I am afraid you did Posh. Sorry if you misunderstoood, I thought I had made it clear. The purpose of the thread was to suggest that the failure to elect disabled candidates (and as it turns out possibly the low proportion of disabled candidates in the UK Parliament) was a result of prejudice possibly aggravated by lack of facilities for them , I also felt it possible that in theTRNC the short period in which it has been a state may have added some inexperience both in equal opportunities procedures and in the electoral process. From that my main point was that the UK expat population could do more to set an example and encourage business to accept and provide for disabled people. I don't think I actually ever suggested that any form of preference should be given to disabled candidates in Parliament election and did indeed point out that there was nothing the non francised could do in any case. I do however feel very srongly that something should be done to ensure that disabled have better opportunities to put forward the case for better facilities.

The proportion of disabled in both countries was a sideline but an interesting one, though it seems there is insufficient information available to reach any conclusion.

It was actually you who raised the issue of positive discrimination, and continued to repeat your views in , with respect, a rather dictatorial tone. I feel very strongly that they showed a lack of consideration for the disabled and refusal to consider the points I was trying to make

I think we have now given the subject of the electoral process enough time . I should be glad however for any positive posts suggesting ways of promotion the interests of the disabled and any other vulnerable residents of the TRNC

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Re: No disabled in Parliament

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Post by PoshinDevon »

I am confident from your topic title and opening sentence that I have not misinterpreted your post. To me it was a discussion as to why disabled candidates did not get elected. The reason is because the electorate did not vote for them.

Simple really.
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