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12 Apr, 2016 13:38

‘US political parties are history’

‘US political parties are history’

We have the wrong people in office, Democrats and Republicans alike are controlled by big money, some say the ‘powers to be,’ Christina Tobin, founder and chair of The Free and Equal Elections Foundation, told RT.

Over 400 arrests were made at the US Capitol building in Washington after staging a mass sit-in, called Democracy Spring, to demand electoral reform.

RT: Why has this year's presidential election process been so controversial and caused so many protests around the US?

Christina Tobin: I think it is because we have the wrong people in office, Democrats and Republicans alike, that are controlled by big money, some say the ‘powers to be’. The time is more than ever now for an independent uprising to come about; independent candidates replacing these Democrats and Republicans alike on the congressional and local levels, which are far more important than the presidential levels. Parties are history – that is what is going to happen.

RT: Do you think the government might take any action to meet the protesters' demands?

CT: No way, because the government doesn’t represent us currently. It represents the money, the powers to be. Donald Trump couldn’t have said it any better today: “The election system is rigged.” I think it is wonderful that people are coming together, but it is time to come together to bring about solutions and The Free and Equal Elections Foundation - we have already been in touch with Democracy Spring to represent what the US is about. It is time for an umbrella group to bring everybody together and that is what The Free and Equal Elections Foundation is all about. Currently the primary process of a rigged system - I’ve been in this industry for almost 20 years… and I’ve seen firsthand the corruption of our electoral system. And Mr. Trump, Mr. Sanders, all those wonderful organizations out there, it’s time to come together for a greater cause than just one person or one organization. 

RT: While such major protest takes place, why are national media outlets in the US choosing to ignore the Capitol protests?

CT: The mainstream media is part of the overall problem from the media to Hollywood, to the two-party system, to the closed presidential debates. The Commission on Presidential Debates is run by the former chair of the Republican and Democratic Party. And you better believe the parties would rather crash the party I feel, than let someone like Trump or Sanders takeover. So the media is part of the problem here in the US – they follow the money, as well as other things I’ve mentioned.

So it’s time for again a movement, solution based, positive energy bringing the children, the mothers, the indigenous leaders, the history together and to essentially inspire a movement of people to vote, to run for office targeting those local congressional races.  More voices, more choices! That is our slogan...

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

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