KELOWNA (NEWS 1130) – Fresh from handily winning Wednesday’s byelection, the new MLA for Kelowna West is speaking out in favour of the current first-past-the-post system.

It worked extremely well for BC Liberal Ben Stewart who collected nearly six out of every 10 votes cast on Valentine’s Day.

He says proportional representation is not a good fit for BC voters who now have a minority NDP government propped up by the Green Party.

“Because it gives especially special interest or minority parties an opportunity to have a certain amount of say and as you can imagine, the situation in many European countries. Well, just look at the gymnastics that Angela Merkel has been going through in Germany over the last four or five months trying to form government.”

After bringing the BC Liberals’ numbers up to 42 in the Legislature, Stewart admits he’s worried proportional representation will be approved during a referendum that’s being held later this year.

“This is a very important issue for the Green Party. When it comes down to governing, you have to have a clear mandate. Neither one of the two parties have a clear mandate to government and there will be an impasse at some point where they will dig their heels in and become inflexible.”

Stewart now holds the seat left vacant by former Premier Christy Clark who resigned last year. The area in which he won has never previously voted for the New Democrats.

No date has been set for this year’s referendum, but similar attempts to change the current system failed in both 2005 and 2009.