Hello, my friends,
As I told you, I voted on the 22nd of May in the Spanish local elections, but not for the regional government (not allowed).
I’m going to write my analysis of the results, without pretending to be original, though I don’t know for sure as it’s impossible to talk with everyone.
First. It seems as if most citizens found it difficult to separate national from regional/local issues.
So where the PSOE (national Government) was in power, the PP has won and with landslide in many cases.
On the one hand, this is perfectly understandable, although it leads me straight to the conclusion of eliminating duplicity in the Regional Governments (with the resulting waste and lack of efficiency, as well as at least twice the cost). That way we would save hundreds of millions of our public money which can then be used for life-constructing projects, not for politicians’ salaries, pensions, benefits or expenses.
And, whilst we’re at it, with all the money spent in elections – Why have four regions be different from the rest and hold the regional elections on a different date, even though the local elections take place the same time as all? Another opportunity to save!
In any case, there’s a major flaw in existing democratic system. Not all the votes have the same value – although the one person, one vote is maintained, the minority parties need far more votes to get as many Congress representatives. Clearly, proportional representation is screaming to be implemented.
Second. A direct result from the first conclusion: people want change.
Wait a moment! The objective of “change” is not met where incumbent parties are consolidated or even increase their majority.
And this even where, in many cases, the 2011 electoral programme was practically the same as the 2007 one (promoting candidates as if they were stars). Repetition means that the promises have not been fulfilled. That, at least for me, deserves a punishment vote: you did not achieve your programme? Then – out!
More: If workers all over are measured by objectives, and Merkel is demanding this left and right, then all politicians, who are also workers, after all, should be also. If they have not performed (and this should be measured yearly) then reduce the salaries and give no benefits. Think of the great savings!
Third. Corruption is totally unimportant.
This for me, is the most worrying. That the Political Parties have allowed people in the (closed) lists with signs of corruption (or even involved in legal process) is not only terrible but shameful: the Parties show that for them corruption is nothing, and protecting their people even feeds the virus.
What is even most surprising is that the people vote them: Do you want my money (in return for nothing)? Here you are – ooh - and, have some more!
Virus? Yes, because it doesn’t matter whether it two or three suits, or even a box of chocolates (for some immaterial). The thing is that it shouldn’t exist: if you do it once and nothing happens (or you’re thought of as clever), the virus, temptation, grows.
At least in Andalucia, but not in Valencia, people have voted another party. But as we know – PSOE/PP – there’s no difference what so ever. Each time its members are asked about their own corruption cases, they reply – not sorry and with promises of eradication – No, they reply pointing the finger to the other! As if the existence of another evil obliterates the first.
If in Castellón the new (PP) Mayor boasts and publicly says that Fabrá (the previous mayor) is still “alive” to shouts and applause – thereby implying implicitly that stealing is good, How can we trust that their citizens’ money won’t be used for his own benefit or of the Party’s, in other words, for corruption?
The only way I see to abolish corruption, this burden not only for the Spanish economy (and its proyects) but for the credibility of the citizens and of course the politicians, is Transparency. This means that all the finances, the budgets, the accounts, the financing, etc., of local and regional governments should be public – available to the citizens. And the best way to realize projects that the citizens really want is to define by law that 20% of the regional and local budgets are agreed upon by the citizens. Inclusion of the citizens in the governing of the towns and regions will guarantee transparency and that really useful projects will be carried out, not those which are whimsical or to satisfy the ego, like some airports or the astronomical refurbishment of a palace to house the local Madrid government, for example.
I haven’t invented this suggestion, no. And it really works.
Frances Moore Lappé in the Spanish (2010) version of her Getting a Grip book (“Toma las riendas ¡YA! – Claridad, creatividad y coraje en un mundo que se ha vuelto loco”), talks to us about a new emerging form of citizen participation and deliberation in key public decisions.
“One recent “sighting” of this dynamism is “participatory budgeting,” a newly emerging form of citizen deliberation over key public choices. It began in Brazil where the wealthy have long held a tight grip on how city funds are allotted. To break the grip, in 1990 members of Brazil’s Workers’ Party—now one of the country’s largest—came up with participatory budgeting, a process in which as much as a fifth of a city’s budget gets allocated through multi-step, face-to-face neighborhood deliberations.
In the birthplace of citizen budgeting, the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, some one hundred thousand citizens have so far taken part. As a result, the share of resources going to poorer parts of the city and to programs benefiting the poor has grown.
Another dividend? The noticeable decline in corruption under the watchful eyes of so many citizens. Visiting a neighborhood near Porto Alegre in 2003, I admired the big, new community center and heard about a new school and clinic. Asking, “But, how can you afford all this?” I was told by smiling locals that less corruption meant more funds for the community. Plus, the new participatory system means greater government efficiency: In 1988, an administrative dollar in Porto Alegre brought three dollars in services; ten years later it brought seven dollars’ worth."
You can find the book inMadrid: Fundación Proyecto Dorado, Atención Integral del Cáncer; c/Martínez Pagé 8, 28029 Madrid – Metro Ventilla/Pza Castilla. Take advantage and find out how this NGO helps patients and relatives.
You can also contact me by email – tomalasriendasya@gmail.com
Karin Hammill
