“Exercise your democratic right to vote” is
the message of leaders of the Presbyterian
Church of Wales to the Welsh people ahead of
tomorrow’s European elections.
“The
European Parliament is the only European
institution that we can directly elect and
those elected will be making far-reaching
decisions affecting us in Wales, Europe and
in the world,” said Revd Haydn Thomas,
Moderator of the Church. “We all have a
chance now to raise issues about the
environment, poverty and social dignity,
migration and refugee protection and peace
and development. These are matters of deep
concern to the church and they affect whole
communities.”
The Presbyterian Church of Wales, along with
many other UK churches, is a member of the
Conference of European Churches (CEC), which
has urged its members all over Europe to
question candidates and to go out and vote,
in order to ensure the strongest
representation possible to look after these
wider concerns as well as particular
interests.”
Reverend Ifan Roberts, General Secretary,
added: “All our fourteen presbyteries, that
is, regional governing bodies, have received
a copy of CEC’s booklet on the European
elections. It doesn’t tell them who to vote
for but it does encourage our members to
look hard at what the different candidates
are promising on crucial issues such as the
environment and social justice, and to vote
accordingly.”
