From Mr J. Armes, MRPharmS
SIR,-I feel that we are fortunate in our profession to have an election model, perhaps putting the transferable vote aside, as close to a pure democracy as possible. In essence I understand this means that any member of our profession can not only vote, but also stand for election to the Council if that is their want.
As a younger member of the profession I feel that it must take a degree of bravery rather than arrogance for a relatively newly qualified member to put himself or herself forward to serve the profession on the Council. A fresh pair of eyes and a fresh outlook can surely be only beneficial in these times of change.
Naturally, in a democracy everyone is entitled to state his or her opinion. I feel that a 10-year minimum period of qualification before eligibility for election, as opined by Mr Rayner (PJ, May 20, p770), would deny the Council of some of its sharpest and most energetic members. I sincerely hope that there will always be a good mix of candidates both in age and fields of experience for the electorate to choose from, and believe that excluding any group for whatever reason is wrong.
Jeremy Armes
Harrogate, North Yorkshire