More on Dafydd El.

Well .we seem to have more clarification from Dafydd Elis Thomas on why he has left Plaid and is now sitting as an Independent in the Welsh Assembly.

Speaking to WalesOnline, Lord Elis-Thomas said that instead of adopting a “narrow oppositionist stance”, Plaid should have negotiated a coalition with Labour after May’s Assembly election.

He said: 

“In fact I think Plaid made a mistake in 2011 when it fought an election opposing Labour after being in coalition in the One Wales Government for four years. They should have carried on working with Labour. I am in politics to achieve things for my constituents and for Wales. I believe that could best be achieved by working collaboratively with Labour.”

But surely such a move  was also dependent on Labour ?

We poor voters are not au fait  to the Party Games in the Assembly and do not know the extent of the negotiations between the two parties during the weeks after May

But if the experience  of Kirsty Williams the former La Pasionaria  of the  Assembly and the sole Liberal Democrat  in that legislature in "Not a Coailition" and now a goverment minister is anything to go by where she seems to have little say and now votes against Lib Dem policy

This does not point to Labour believing they should give up any of their hegemony to a coalition partner.

He said Plaid was wrong to suggest he had misled voters by standing as a Plaid candidate in May: 

“I did so because my local party wanted me to. I fought the election on a distinctive platform on local issues like supporting nuclear power at Trawsfynydd and working for the protection of the Welsh landscape, something I am doing with the Government. As an Independent I will be able to speak more freely, instead of having to look over my shoulder all the time and being gagged by my own party.”

It will be interesting to see  what the local party who have been extremely loyal to Dafydd El and campaigned  for him last May have to say on that?

He does make some important points 

He said: 

“Plaid are complaining about losing their position as the official opposition because of my departure from the group, but the idea of an official opposition is not in the Assembly’s Standing Orders and is a Westminster concept.”
Lord Elis-Thomas said that instead of mimicking Westminster, parties at the Assembly should work together for the good of Wales: “That’s what happens in many countries in Europe, and it’s what as a former Presiding Officer I believe devolution should be about. Yesterday I was discussing bilingual education with the Minister for the Welsh Language Alun Davies. I am confident that the current Government is committed to making improvements and will make necessary changes to the Welsh Language Measure.”

But one aspect of his complaint is that he has been gagged  by Leanne Wood  seems to be highly ironic

In December 2004 Lord Elis-Thomas asked Leanne Wood to leave the chamber for referring to the Queen as "Mrs Windsor" during a debate. Wood was the first assembly member to be ordered out of the chamber on those grounds.

Ms Wood later  defeated him in a leadership election in 2012.

In the first round of voting, she won 2,879 votes to Ms Jones's 1,884 and Lord Elis-Thomas's 1,278.

As no candidate had more than half the votes, Lord Elis-Thomas was eliminated and the second-preference votes of his supporters were redistributed, giving Ms Wood 3,326 votes and Ms Jones 2,494.

I wonder what his reaction would have been if the position were  reversed and Leanne was the one criticising the policy at inappropriate times such as during an election.

It will be interesting to see just how this Independent AM will vote and how many time he votes with the Government or with the Opposition.

Or taking into account complaints of his absenteeism  whether he votes at all.