Thank goodness for polls. Without them we wouldn't know what
to eat, what to wear, which shampoo really makes your hair naturally curly and
bouncy, and, almost as importantly, who to vote for.
Whiskas ran a popular ad campaign back in the 1820s or
thereabouts, you wouldn't remember anyway, in which they claimed "Eight
out of ten cats said they preferred it". (It was later changed, after the
Advertising Piffling Pedantic Party-pooper Association discovered that cats
can't actually talk, to the far more accurate: "77% of people who own, or
share accommodation with, cats, or other animals of a feline nature, when
surveyed, on average, within a 2-standard deviation of the mean, expressed a
preference, when pushed, if they had to, for cat food." Which, you must
agree, just trips off the tongue.) It was a great ad campaign, and has been
widely mimicked over the years – what better praise can one get?
Newspapers love market surveys, no matter how misleading and
unhelpful they may be.
Last month, the Jerusalem Post had a lead story along the
lines of "Our exclusive survey results: Imaginary party headed by all the centre-left
politicos and ex-politicos (not currently in jail) could prove the winning
ticket." In their poll, they discovered that a party with the unlikely
combination of Tzipi Livni (popular ex-leader who disappointed everyone by
coming first in the last elections), Ehud Olmert (ex-prime minister, who
recently starred in a court serial drama until it was suddenly pulled), Shaul
Mofaz (current party leader, though no one knows where he is) and Yair Lapid
(future party leader and ex-bank pin-up) could indeed beat the Likud
favourites. Which takes some imagination, as the four wouldn't even share an
antipasti let alone a platform. Yet another article for the chattering classes
that served no purpose.
In today's The Times of Israel, an electoral poll suggested
that Moshe Kahlon, a retiring popular Likud Member of Knesset (hey, he could be
called MK MK) could end up as the second largest party, should he choose to
run. In other words, "Non-existent party headed by man who has just left
politics could come second in the vote." Well there's a useful waste of
newsprint.
What should we expect next? "Eight out of ten people
said they would buy something shiny if it came in very small handy sizes"
or "Tuesdays would be far more popular if they came after Wednesdays, says
our exclusive poll."
 |
| Moshe Kahlon bidding to set up the Vention 2012 Party (Photo: Daniel Bar-On, Haaretz) |
Now why exactly is Moshe Kahlon so popular?
Well for a start he promoted legislation that limited the
commissions that banks charge us. You know the sort of thing: a few shekels for
entering the bank, some more for asking a question, several more for having the
audacity to want to take your own money out of your account.
But mostly for the past three years, as Minister of Mobile
Phones (aka Minister of Communications), Kahlon has wrought changes that have
probably benefited more middle- and low-income earners than anything he pushed
through as Minister of the Tired, Poor and Huddled Masses (aka Minister of
Welfare). He freed the phone market, allowing in more operators, and more
network combinations including Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs), which
if you're not quite sure what that means, wait after class and I'll explain it
to you. But the main point is, he broke up the market, the products, the
services. Instead of having to register with one company and buy your phone,
your airtime, your number there, and stay there forever, trapped, at a high
price, the market is now more accessible for all, at competitive prices. For
example, the newest kids on the block (Golan Telecom and HOT Mobile ) sell SIM cards, but not the handsets
themselves. Prices are falling, the 'veteran' players are having to play a
tougher game to keep their subscribers. New legislation has severely limited
what fines must be paid if you choose to leave one of the telecoms companies
(whether one of the cellphone companies or your cable or satellite TV company).
And most significantly – without which all of these changes would be worthless
– you can hop from one operator to another and take your phone number with you.
And in recognition of this, the Movement for Quality
Government in Israel chose him as one of the handful of Knights of Quality
Government last year, citing his work in "reforms intended to improve the
status of the consumer in the telecoms market, particular in the cellphone
sector, and including the lowering of connection fees and the introduction of
new cellphone operators into the market."
Naturally in this topsy turvy world of Israeli movers and shakers, a popular,
award-winning politician is the very type of individual who would choose to leave,
and last month he announced he was forgoing politics for a quieter life. However, given the dearth
and quality of the ones we're left with, and given that there are still five
long weeks before lists have to be submitted for standing in the elections in
January, anything could happen.
Anyway, he's a man to watch in my opinion. In fact eight out
of ten of my opinions preferred him.
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