Y Ddeddf
Mae’r Ddeddf yn nodi dau fecanwaith y gall y Senedd eu defnyddio i ‘sbarduno’ etholiad cynnar. Yn gyntaf, mae’r Ddeddf yn nodi:If the House of Commons passes a motion of no confidence in the Government, an election must be held unless within the period of 14 days the House passes a motion expressing confidence in a Government.Mae hyn yn rhoi'r cyfle i ffurfio llywodraeth wahanol heb etholiad. Yn ail, gellid 'sbarduno' etholiad cynnar drwy bleidlais a basiwyd gan o leiaf dwy ran o dair o'r holl Aelodau Seneddol o blaid diddymiad:
Subsection (1) provides for an early election if the House of Commons passes a motion that there should be such an election. Where such a motion has been passed on a division, the number of members who voted in favour of the motion must be a number equal to or greater than two-thirds of the number of seats in the House, including vacant seats.Mae Adran 3 yn nodi na ellir diddymu'r Senedd mewn unrhyw amgylchiadau eraill, felly'n dod â'r pŵer uchelfraint frenhinol ar gyfer diddymiad i ben.
Y Ddadl
Cynhaliwyd dadl ar y cynnig "That there shall be an early general election" yn Nhŷ'r Cyffredin ddydd Mercher 19 Ebrill. Pleidleisiodd 522 o Aelodau Seneddol o blaid y cynnig ac roedd 13 pleidlais yn ei erbyn. Pleidleisiodd Plaid Cymru a’r Democratiaid Rhyddfrydol o blaid y cynnig. Felly hefyd y pleidleisiodd y rhan helaeth o Aelodau Seneddol y Blaid Lafur, ond roedd yr 13 a bleidleisiodd yn erbyn y cynnig yn ASau Llafur gan fwyaf, gyda’r lleill o’r SDLP neu’n annibynnol. Roedd y gwrthwynebwyr yn cynnwys y Gwir Anrh. Ann Clwyd AS. Ataliodd yr SNP eu pleidlais.
Yn ystod y ddadl, roedd rhai ASau yn teimlo bod rhaid iddynt drafod pa mor effeithlon yw Deddf Seneddau Tymor Penodol 2011. Dywedodd y Ceidwadwr Syr Edward Leigh AS, wrth ymyrryd yn araith y Prif Weinidog:
It would be a brave man or woman who voted against this motion. The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 is therefore seen to be an emperor without clothes—it serves no purpose, and many of us have questioned it for many years. Will the first line of our manifesto be to scrap it?Dywedodd Angus Robertson AS, arweinydd grŵp yr SNP:
The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 was supposed to stop political parties abusing their position and putting party before country. Today the Tories are going to do just that, and, sadly, the Labour party is going to vote with the Tories and make life easy for them.Roedd y Ceidwadwr Peter Bone AS o’r farn bod y Ddeddf yn cynyddu awdurdod Seneddol:
This illustrates the advantage of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act. If the House does not agree to a general election, it will not happen and the Government will continue in office. Any Opposition Members who did not want a general election would be very strange creatures indeed. Any Opposition Members who sat on their hands and did not vote would be regarded as impotent Members of Parliament.Roedd Ceidwadwr arall, Jacob Rees-Mogg AS, yn anghytuno:
But does this not demonstrate why the Fixed-term Parliaments Act can never work? No Opposition can sensibly say that they would prefer a Government they oppose to continue in office, rather than having a chance to defeat them. The Act does not therefore fit within our constitution, and it ought to go.
Etholiadau yn y dyfodol
Dyddiad nesaf yr Etholiad Cyffredinol nesaf fydd y dydd Iau cyntaf ym mis Mai ymhen pum mlynedd, hynny yw 5 Mai 2022. Bydd hyn yn osgoi gwrthdaro ag etholiadau’r Cynulliad ym mis Mai 2021. Fodd bynnag, os na fydd unrhyw newid, bydd etholiadau lleol bob amser yn cyd-daro â’r Etholiad Cyffredinol.Erthygl gan Dr Alys Thomas, Gwasanaeth Ymchwil Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru. Llun: o Catherine Bebbington/ Hawlfraint Seneddol. Dan drwydded Creative Commons. Mae’r erthygl hon hefyd ar gael fel dogfen PDF i’w hargraffu: Sbarduno etholiad cynnar: Deddf Seneddau Tymor Penodol (PDF, 154KB)
