All governments have their moments of crisis when inner tensions arise. Dismissals, reshuffles, even resignations will occur. They are not in themselves unusual. Within the most rigid and disciplined of governments there are disagreements, spats and also intrigues. The moments of crisis are often self-induced rather than brought about by outside events.
During the periods in office of the two Balearic governments prior to the current one, there were times of upheaval. The "pact" of 2007 to 2011, which comprised PSOE, the PSM Mallorcan socialists and the old Unió Mallorquina (UM), was an amalgam of incompatible convenience. PSOE was the arbiter, caught between two parties which, because of their competing claims on Mallorcan nationalism but from very different ideological perspectives, hated each other. It didn't help PSM humour that the UM nabbed some high-profile ministries - tourism and environment. (Want to know why Més now have these ministries in the current government? There's your answer.)
The crisis that engulfed the pact government wasn't, remarkably enough, because of the inherent conflict. It came about because the UM was consumed by corruption charges. They were to eventually prove too much even for a docile president like Francesc Antich. He booted the UM out, with some sixteen months left of the legislature.
The regime of José Ramón Bauzá had, at its outset, nothing of this in-built tension. One party, the Partido Popular, was governing with a majority. For all this, however, it was a government which spent most of its period of office in a state of crisis. After just a year, the first health minister, Carmen Castro, resigned. Personal reasons, it was said. A few months later her replacement, Antoni Mesquida, also resigned. Personal reasons were initially cited. Then we found out the real reason. Austerity and cutbacks to the health service were too much for this brother of PSOE's Joan, currently in charge of "special projects" in Calvia.
The finance minister, Pep Aguiló, left the following May, sacked because Bauzá needed to sacrifice him. The so-called green taxes, aimed at large retailers and car-hire agencies, threatened to deprive Bauzá of a significant support base in the Balearic business community. The taxes were dropped.
Next to go was Rafael Bosch, the education minister. It was his sacking that was to eventually expose the tensions within the PP. Bosch was not the advocate of trilingual teaching and anti-Catalanism that Bauzá wanted. His departure arguably signalled the eventual end of Bauzá. The remaining two years were 24 months of chaos, fall-outs and recrimination.
Bauzá was quite different to Antich. He was an authoritarian who sought to impose discipline but failed to. Antich was more the diplomat, all the time having to balance the conflicts that he had been party to in forming the pact. The same can now be said for Francina Armengol. But she heads a quite different type of government. One party, Podemos, isn't even part of government. It remains outside, pulling strings, determining policy and sniping at the government when it suits it to do so. However, Podemos is not the reason for the crisis that has broken out in the Armengol administration because of the resignation of culture, transparency and participation minister Esperança Camps.
Nine months into government and its first victim has been claimed. There were rumblings about Camps, her effectiveness, the fact that she wasn't a politician as such when appointed, her continuing to live in Valencia and her apparent lack of knowledge of the "realities" of the Balearics. Some of which begs the question as to why she was appointed in the first place, but it was this appointment which uncovers the divided nature of the Armengol administration. We had thought (and will continue to think) that Podemos is the wrecking crew, but how much thought had we given to Més?
In itself Més is a coalition, but not just of the PSM, the Greens and the one everyone forgets, Entesa. It is a coalition between Mallorca and Menorca. Camps was a Més Menorca appointee. It made her and ultimately it broke her. She faced rebellion because her senior officials simply didn't rate her, but she might have survived had it not been for the intrigues within Més in Menorca.
She was also an appointment based on the unwritten island quota system for ministerial positions. Bauzá hadn't concerned himself so much with this. When Castro, from Ibiza, resigned, she wasn't replaced by someone else from Ibiza. The quota system is far more evident with the Armengol government; just another aspect of coalition, if you like.
Armengol is asking Més to come up with a replacement with "weight" for Camps. It will probably be Més Menorca which makes the nomination. That way all the constituent parts of government are kept sweet, meaning that all the factions and the intriguers are kept happy. It's a recipe for crisis. Don't bank on it not repeating itself.
Showing posts with label Esperança Camps. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Esperança Camps. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 05, 2016
Sunday, March 27, 2016
Hopes For Esperança Run Out
What is it exactly with female ministers in the Balearic government who are called Camps? Of our ladies of the fields, José Ramón presented us with Joana Maria, seemingly paraded for the sole purpose of entertaining us richly with her malapropisms (among other things) but who in truth was a lamb from the field sent to the eventual slaughter and carnage of JR's trilingual teaching debacle and expected to ministerially supervise something for which, as an estate agent, she wasn't best qualified.
If Joana was the unfortunate victim of Joe Ray's preference for stooges who wouldn't say nay to him, the same can't be said for Esperança of the Camps ilk. Esperança, if you need reminding, and you almost certainly will do because no one's heard a peep out of her (which is part of the problem), secured the rag-tag portfolio of culture, participation and transparency. This ministerial and departmental invention of the Armengol politburo ended up in Esperança's lap partly on account of the government's quota system. This has two elements to it. One is that Més has to have its share of ministerial appointments. The second is that Menorca has to have its representation as well. Esperança is originally from Menorca. Joana was likewise from Menorca, a fact that led her to make numerous trips there on government business, all of which, a judge has decided, were perfectly above board, much to the disgust of her arch enemies, the Teachers' Assembly, which keeps attempting to drag her back into court.
Despite not actually being a politician as such - she had spent years being a political television journalist (in Valencia, which is pertinent) - Esperança was handed the keys to this new ministry, wherever and whatever it was. It was then that the problems started, as things seem to have gone downhill ever since. Not only is it alleged that Esperança hasn't actually done anything, it is also said that she doesn't talk to her senior officials, one of whom she apparently wishes to replace because he isn't political enough. It might be asked how she knows he isn't political enough if she doesn't speak to him.
More concerning for Esperança is the fact that the brother and sisterhood of Més seem to think that she isn't political enough in that she hasn't been issuing decrees mandating the use of Catalan and threatening death or labour camps (sic) to anyone who dares utter a word of Castellano. (The language thing apparently falls under culture and participation and quite possibly transparency as well.) And to make matters worse, the Més-ites (and non-Més-ites) have suddenly realised that Esperança has spent the past forty years or so spending most of her time in Valencia. "She is disconnected from the realities of the Balearics," an unnamed government person has said. Well, that should have been transparent. Shouldn't it?
All of which is causing sweet and friendly Frankie A. a bit of a headache. A cabinet reshuffle is in any event on the cards because the transport minister, Joan Boned (who was part of the Ibiza quota system), isn't a well man and is expected to drop out of frontline politics. But with the rumblings about Esperança starting to make the sound of an imminent volcano, the reshuffle is likely to be more far-reaching. This in itself is adding to Frankie's headache. Might Podemos decide this is the time to leap into the government and snaffle some ministerial jobs?
If Joana was the unfortunate victim of Joe Ray's preference for stooges who wouldn't say nay to him, the same can't be said for Esperança of the Camps ilk. Esperança, if you need reminding, and you almost certainly will do because no one's heard a peep out of her (which is part of the problem), secured the rag-tag portfolio of culture, participation and transparency. This ministerial and departmental invention of the Armengol politburo ended up in Esperança's lap partly on account of the government's quota system. This has two elements to it. One is that Més has to have its share of ministerial appointments. The second is that Menorca has to have its representation as well. Esperança is originally from Menorca. Joana was likewise from Menorca, a fact that led her to make numerous trips there on government business, all of which, a judge has decided, were perfectly above board, much to the disgust of her arch enemies, the Teachers' Assembly, which keeps attempting to drag her back into court.
Despite not actually being a politician as such - she had spent years being a political television journalist (in Valencia, which is pertinent) - Esperança was handed the keys to this new ministry, wherever and whatever it was. It was then that the problems started, as things seem to have gone downhill ever since. Not only is it alleged that Esperança hasn't actually done anything, it is also said that she doesn't talk to her senior officials, one of whom she apparently wishes to replace because he isn't political enough. It might be asked how she knows he isn't political enough if she doesn't speak to him.
More concerning for Esperança is the fact that the brother and sisterhood of Més seem to think that she isn't political enough in that she hasn't been issuing decrees mandating the use of Catalan and threatening death or labour camps (sic) to anyone who dares utter a word of Castellano. (The language thing apparently falls under culture and participation and quite possibly transparency as well.) And to make matters worse, the Més-ites (and non-Més-ites) have suddenly realised that Esperança has spent the past forty years or so spending most of her time in Valencia. "She is disconnected from the realities of the Balearics," an unnamed government person has said. Well, that should have been transparent. Shouldn't it?
All of which is causing sweet and friendly Frankie A. a bit of a headache. A cabinet reshuffle is in any event on the cards because the transport minister, Joan Boned (who was part of the Ibiza quota system), isn't a well man and is expected to drop out of frontline politics. But with the rumblings about Esperança starting to make the sound of an imminent volcano, the reshuffle is likely to be more far-reaching. This in itself is adding to Frankie's headache. Might Podemos decide this is the time to leap into the government and snaffle some ministerial jobs?
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