Oh my God. To plunder once, as Lady Bracknell didn't say, may be regarded as a bit of cock-up; to plunder twice looks like you mean it. How good is your Spanish? Would you be able to distinguish between the verbs "sacar" and "saquear"? You could be forgiven if you were not able to. But, the national secretary-general of the Partido Popular and the president of Castile-La Mancha? Oh my God. Dear Dolly was at it again: Maria Dolores Cospedal, throwing the PP what might be termed a Cospedal pass. "We have worked hard in plundering our country." Honestly, this is what she said at a meeting in Guadalajara on 17 April; the gaffe only really coming to light and having been given the attention it deserved last week. What she had meant to say was - "we have worked hard in moving our country forward" - but because she got her "sacar" and "saquear" muddled up, she didn't say this.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time that Dolly has stumbled over these verbs. In 2012, she was announcing policies that would plunder (or loot, if you prefer) Castile-La Mancha. Over the course of three years, Dolly's ambitions for looting have increased substantially. Not content with a single region, she's having away with the treasures of an entire nation. What a girl.
At a time when it was emerging that Rajoy's old mate (no longer a mate), Rodrigo Rato, had been not so much a rat who had left a sinking ship but - allegedly - one who had rammed it with his pirates' ship, boarded it, deprived it of all its vast horde of pieces of eight and had then set fire to it, Dolly's mixture of verbs was especially unfortunate. Or perhaps it was entirely appropriate. The Pirate Plunderers of the PP: it has a ring to it. Major-General Matas, The Pirate King Bárcenas, and many a Pirate Apprentice: "They are the very model of the modern political party".
Linguistic balls-ups by PP prominenti are of course not uncommon. A fine example of the genre was that of erstwhile education minister in the Balearics, Joana Camps. She trampled her heavy boots all over the PISA Programme for International Student Assessment by believing that PISA was in fact the Spanish verb to tread, which she then duly translated into Catalan, thus compounding the error and turning herself into a laughing-stock (which admittedly wasn't that difficult).
Joana should have been demanding double geography lessons for her colleagues in the party, as there have been the geographical gaffes as well. Take Mariano Rajoy, for example. Prime minister of Spain. Should have a reasonable grasp on the subject, you would think. Not when it comes to Mallorca, he doesn't. Hence, he referred to the island of Palma. And, blow me, Dolly has the same sort of problem. The day after she was boasting about all the plundering, she was at a meeting in Extremadura. Or was she? According to her, Las Hurdes, which is where she was, is in Andalusia. It isn't.
Showing posts with label Maria Dolores Cospedal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Maria Dolores Cospedal. Show all posts
Sunday, April 26, 2015
Tuesday, December 09, 2014
On Constitution Day: Detestable behaviour
Constitution Day, which was last Saturday, is a day when politicians have a lot to say for themselves; more so than usual, as there is a constitution to be discussed and honoured and matters related to the Magna Carta to be aired. In recent times there has been a recurring theme in Constitution Day addresses. For example, in 2008 the then government delegate for the Balearics, Ramon Socias, had words to say about corruption. The current delegate, Teresa Palmer, was not lost for words on the same subject this year.
Six years ago Socias placed a great deal of emphasis on corruption. He said that "it is high time that we all take action in order that those who wish to take advantage of their status and of their presence in positions of power for their own benefit are expelled for being unworthy of the trust of citizens". A year later Socias used his Constitution Day address to attack the Unió Mallorquina (UM), which was part of the coalition government at that time. "It has cost us too much to be able to consolidate democracy" without some now looking to save their skins. He was referring to a charge levelled at the national government by the UM that Madrid was pushing prosecutors to investigate the party. Socias must have known or sensed what was going to happen. Within weeks UM leaders were being arrested or implicated and at the start of February 2010 the party was booted out of the coalition. Socias had got his expulsion.
On Saturday, Teresa Palmer did not mince her words. "The confidence of the public has been decimated in recent times by the numerous cases of dark, reproachable and detestable behaviour by politicians who provoke repulsion, sick-and-tiredness, annoyance and a deep sense of unease." Palmer is a Partido Popular politician. What she had to say was one of the strongest condemnations of corruption and, by implication, of members of her own party that you are likely to hear.
It would be interesting to know how much, if at all, PP central office or indeed the PP locally, knew about Palmer's speech in advance. Perhaps it had the full knowledge and approval of Mariano Rajoy; let Palmer say things that he himself couldn't without potentially appearing hypocritical. Or perhaps there was an element of independence in her words, given the rather strange function that the government delegate has.
This is a position which is in the gift of the national government. The delegate is the government's highest representative in the Balearics and one who usually is appointed through a recommendation from the ruling party in the regional government, though this doesn't always happen. Socias was delegate from May 2004. He was appointed by the Zapatero PSOE regime after it won the election. The president in the Balearics at that time was the PP's Jaume Matas. It is a position which, in a sense, is above party politics though of course it cannot be. Nevertheless, as a voice of the "state", there is an element of detachment and of being a kind of über-presidential role. As there is nothing more symbolic for the "state" than the Constitution is why the delegate comes to make a speech on Constitution Day.
Palmer went on to add that the government of Mariano Rajoy was the "most ambitious" in combating corruption, something which the former Zapatero government might disagree with as it was that government which created the anti-corruption prosecution service, so her political colours were clearly flying. Nonetheless, the picture she painted by reference to "numerous cases" was in contrast to what the PP's general secretary, María Dolores Cospedal, said on television on Saturday evening. On corruption she stated that there was "less than ever", an assertion that many might find hard to accept.
That the PP has been rattled by the spate of cases which have come to light recently and that the party is on the run in the face of the publicity surrounding these cases is undeniable. Palmer's words may, therefore, have been no more than an indirect party political broadcast for the PP and for Bauzá in the Balearics in particular; make a full and frank admission of the problem but add that there is an "ambitious" programme to tackle it, and the electorate will look on the PP more kindly. But this overlooks (or rather doesn't overlook) the two elephants in different corners of the room - Podemos and the Luis Bárcenas ledgers. Cospedal, referred to, like Rajoy, as an alleged recipient of benefits via the Bárcenas accounts, was not sure if Bárcenas was a "compulsive liar". And that is what everyone would like to know.
"Ambitious programme" but "numerous cases" and decimated public confidence. In a further six years time will the government delegate still be forced to address corruption on Constitution Day?
Six years ago Socias placed a great deal of emphasis on corruption. He said that "it is high time that we all take action in order that those who wish to take advantage of their status and of their presence in positions of power for their own benefit are expelled for being unworthy of the trust of citizens". A year later Socias used his Constitution Day address to attack the Unió Mallorquina (UM), which was part of the coalition government at that time. "It has cost us too much to be able to consolidate democracy" without some now looking to save their skins. He was referring to a charge levelled at the national government by the UM that Madrid was pushing prosecutors to investigate the party. Socias must have known or sensed what was going to happen. Within weeks UM leaders were being arrested or implicated and at the start of February 2010 the party was booted out of the coalition. Socias had got his expulsion.
On Saturday, Teresa Palmer did not mince her words. "The confidence of the public has been decimated in recent times by the numerous cases of dark, reproachable and detestable behaviour by politicians who provoke repulsion, sick-and-tiredness, annoyance and a deep sense of unease." Palmer is a Partido Popular politician. What she had to say was one of the strongest condemnations of corruption and, by implication, of members of her own party that you are likely to hear.
It would be interesting to know how much, if at all, PP central office or indeed the PP locally, knew about Palmer's speech in advance. Perhaps it had the full knowledge and approval of Mariano Rajoy; let Palmer say things that he himself couldn't without potentially appearing hypocritical. Or perhaps there was an element of independence in her words, given the rather strange function that the government delegate has.
This is a position which is in the gift of the national government. The delegate is the government's highest representative in the Balearics and one who usually is appointed through a recommendation from the ruling party in the regional government, though this doesn't always happen. Socias was delegate from May 2004. He was appointed by the Zapatero PSOE regime after it won the election. The president in the Balearics at that time was the PP's Jaume Matas. It is a position which, in a sense, is above party politics though of course it cannot be. Nevertheless, as a voice of the "state", there is an element of detachment and of being a kind of über-presidential role. As there is nothing more symbolic for the "state" than the Constitution is why the delegate comes to make a speech on Constitution Day.
Palmer went on to add that the government of Mariano Rajoy was the "most ambitious" in combating corruption, something which the former Zapatero government might disagree with as it was that government which created the anti-corruption prosecution service, so her political colours were clearly flying. Nonetheless, the picture she painted by reference to "numerous cases" was in contrast to what the PP's general secretary, María Dolores Cospedal, said on television on Saturday evening. On corruption she stated that there was "less than ever", an assertion that many might find hard to accept.
That the PP has been rattled by the spate of cases which have come to light recently and that the party is on the run in the face of the publicity surrounding these cases is undeniable. Palmer's words may, therefore, have been no more than an indirect party political broadcast for the PP and for Bauzá in the Balearics in particular; make a full and frank admission of the problem but add that there is an "ambitious" programme to tackle it, and the electorate will look on the PP more kindly. But this overlooks (or rather doesn't overlook) the two elephants in different corners of the room - Podemos and the Luis Bárcenas ledgers. Cospedal, referred to, like Rajoy, as an alleged recipient of benefits via the Bárcenas accounts, was not sure if Bárcenas was a "compulsive liar". And that is what everyone would like to know.
"Ambitious programme" but "numerous cases" and decimated public confidence. In a further six years time will the government delegate still be forced to address corruption on Constitution Day?
Saturday, November 08, 2014
Times They Are A-Changing: Podemos
Maria Dolores Cospedal is the secretary-general of the Partido Popular. Like Nuria Riera in the Balearics, the regional education minister and PP spokesperson, Dolores cuts a sympathetic appearance. She is the soft-looking, acceptable-to-the-public face of the PP in contrast to the scary and habitually scared-looking Rajoy and the frankly terrifying dominatrix of a vice-premier, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaria. It is Dolores's lot, therefore, to have to make public pronouncements that, were Soraya to make them, would have everyone dashing behind the sofa. Last year, Dolores addressed a gathering of Nuevas Generaciones in Toledo. This is the PP youth wing, the equivalent of the Young Conservatives but without the tweed jackets and the leather patches. Dolores, talking to the converted conservative, informed her audience that, economic crisis notwithstanding, the young people of Spain had more opportunities than ever before. For some reason she then decided to quote the then 71-year-old Bob Dylan in observing that the times they were a-changing. Perhaps she did so in the belief that by invoking a lyric from fifty years previously she would be appealing to the youth. Almost certainly she appeared not to have recognised that the now septuagenarian had penned what was considered to have been the anthem of the 1960s' protest movement.
Dylan, were he to be starting out today and to be Spanish, would in all likelihood be the musical voice of Spain's protest - Podemos's lead singer and poster boy. Dolores, now probably apprised of Dylan's cultural significance, didn't mention him the other day when being the obvious choice to front what will become a full-frontal assault on Podemos and its leader, Pablo Iglesias. Podemos, said Dolores, was "very dangerous for democracy". Much as one doesn't wish to be too harsh on someone as nice as Dolores, she has some brass neck to start issuing lectures on dangers to democracy when so many members of the PP have managed to swell prisoner numbers and keep judges and prosecutors in gainful employment. But then, there have only been "some issues of corruption", she continued, echoing Mariano's "few small incidents".
Depending on which survey you preferred, Podemos was shown to either have a slight lead or to be running a close third in the opinion polls. Both of them have put a gale force wind up the PP, and so Dolores was sent out to try and prevent the roof tiles of government being loosened and crashing on top of the PP by painting Podemos as being anything but a soothing breeze. She alluded to the now familiar and alleged Venezuelan connections and style of Podemos and - item for the brass neck prosecution number two - also suggested that the freedom of the press would be endangered. This would presumably be the same freedom of the press which, by way of a couple of examples, led to journalists at the RTVE national broadcaster, who were asking tough questions of Rajoy and his government, being found other jobs and to a threat to sue Telecinco over a debate regarding the Bárcenas affair.
Podemos and Iglesias can now anticipate not being out of the glare of publicity for a single day as opponents dredge up whatever dirt they can, such as the video of a drunk Iglesias singing "The International" alongside rapper Pablo Hasél, who was sentenced in April to two years for glorifying terrorism, or indulge in wild frenzies of tweeting, as in the PP spokesperson for the town hall in Paredes de Nava who last week tweeted that Iglesias was a "hija de puta" who should be shot in the neck. Whether Dolores considers that tweet to be dangerous for democracy is, as yet, unknown.
Dylan, were he to be starting out today and to be Spanish, would in all likelihood be the musical voice of Spain's protest - Podemos's lead singer and poster boy. Dolores, now probably apprised of Dylan's cultural significance, didn't mention him the other day when being the obvious choice to front what will become a full-frontal assault on Podemos and its leader, Pablo Iglesias. Podemos, said Dolores, was "very dangerous for democracy". Much as one doesn't wish to be too harsh on someone as nice as Dolores, she has some brass neck to start issuing lectures on dangers to democracy when so many members of the PP have managed to swell prisoner numbers and keep judges and prosecutors in gainful employment. But then, there have only been "some issues of corruption", she continued, echoing Mariano's "few small incidents".
Depending on which survey you preferred, Podemos was shown to either have a slight lead or to be running a close third in the opinion polls. Both of them have put a gale force wind up the PP, and so Dolores was sent out to try and prevent the roof tiles of government being loosened and crashing on top of the PP by painting Podemos as being anything but a soothing breeze. She alluded to the now familiar and alleged Venezuelan connections and style of Podemos and - item for the brass neck prosecution number two - also suggested that the freedom of the press would be endangered. This would presumably be the same freedom of the press which, by way of a couple of examples, led to journalists at the RTVE national broadcaster, who were asking tough questions of Rajoy and his government, being found other jobs and to a threat to sue Telecinco over a debate regarding the Bárcenas affair.
Podemos and Iglesias can now anticipate not being out of the glare of publicity for a single day as opponents dredge up whatever dirt they can, such as the video of a drunk Iglesias singing "The International" alongside rapper Pablo Hasél, who was sentenced in April to two years for glorifying terrorism, or indulge in wild frenzies of tweeting, as in the PP spokesperson for the town hall in Paredes de Nava who last week tweeted that Iglesias was a "hija de puta" who should be shot in the neck. Whether Dolores considers that tweet to be dangerous for democracy is, as yet, unknown.
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