Mr Grumpy

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By Mr Grumpy - Thu 19th May 2011

 

Unless you have been living in a cave for the last few weeks, nobody can fail to be aware of the fact that this coming weekend is election weekend.

Every four years all of the Town Halls in Spain (about 8'300 of them) and 13 of the 17 Regions vote for a change in Government. The other 4 regions elect their governments on a totally separate electoral calendar and, it goes without saying, Catalonia and the Basque country are included here. Heaven forbid they would toe the line and do anything in sync with the rest of the country.

To further complicate matters the National elections, which are also held in a four year cycle, are held the year following the local elections - IE the next general / national election will be held in May of 2012.

Unlike the UK, there are three tiers of government - Local; Regional and National - and if you are fortunate enough to live in a Town where all three forms of government follow the same party you often find that things get done with fewer obstacles being encountered. If just one of the three governments is different to the others you can guarantee that whenever anything needs to be done, then there will be a problem somewhere along the lines.

The other thing to note is that electioneering is not permitted before a certain number of days before the election, which most parties and candidates abide by. But as soon as the permitted date comes, the floodgates open and every opportunity to kiss a passing baby is jumped on by every politician. There are rallies and fiestas and drinks evenings etc... all to sway opinion and court votes. This morning I saw two representatives from one party driving a Seat Ibiza around the village playing some random music that wouldn't have been out of place in an Ice-cream van at a deafening level, with just 2 posters in the back window. I'm guessing that it could count as 'campaigning' ?.

Following the earthquake in Lorca last week it was heartening to hear how the Town's major parties agreed to suspend electioneering until things could return to normal, only for the opposition party to use the opportunity to stir up unrest in the temporary accommodation camps by openly criticising the local governments attempts at providing for the homeless (How does a local government even attempt to formulate a plan for coping with an earthquake of a 5.2 magnitude and an evacuation of 20'000 residents anyway ? - Isn't that totally unprecedented ?). But I suppose it goes to prove that even in times of tragedy the old adage that "All is fair in Politics" rings true. (Is it me or did I just make that one up ?)

My Local village has an electoral role of approx 750 people, of which over 65% are Non-Spanish and, given that there are problems concerning the legality of over 65% of the houses in the village, the major issue for us is centred around a Non-Spanish Majority being concerned over just one such issue - with seemingly every other issue being pushed to one side.

The issue is being fought on the 'Plan General' - basically the plan to legalise all of the houses, in a manner which complies with the law and keeps the regional government happy, but has, to date, taken a full 2 administrations to achieve, whereas other Town Halls locally have achieved acceptance of their general plan in 18 months.

The Problem > Do you keep on granting 'extra time' to one administration in the hope that they are close to arriving at a favourable result, OR after 8 years pass the baton on to another team to have a go at putting things right (The team who were largely responsible for creating the mess three administrations ago). Is it even reasonable to hold the opposition to account for the problems after a total change of personnel, or will they always be tainted by association with the guilty corrupt few from 8 years ago ?

In short, in a two-horsed race, it comes down to choosing between a (previously) 'corrupt party' or a party that has achieved nothing at all in 8 years.

And as I feel strongly about not fighting for the right to vote only to waste it by abstaining, I find myself being drawn to voting in favour of 'corruption'. At least that way things get done.