What went flawed in 1999 within the referendum was actually that we, within the republican motion, ended up preventing on two fronts. We had, on the one hand, the monarchists who stated, “If it ain’t broke, don’t repair it.”
And on the opposite facet, we had individuals who wished to elect the president by direct election, saying, totally dishonestly, I’d add, “Vote no to this type of a republic and also you’ll have one other probability in a couple of years’ time to vote for a straight elected president.”
That was at all times a lie. It was a basic case of letting the proper be the enemy of the nice, and that’s the true purpose why we misplaced …
I feel what we’ve bought to do is have the talk about the right way to elect the president first. So have a plebiscite about that … then as soon as the individuals have made up their thoughts on that, then incorporate that mode of election into the constitutional amendments that you just then put up within the formal referendum that may consequence, if it’s handed, in altering the structure.