Ciudadanos is one of what can seem like a baffling array of political parties that are positioned to the left of centre. It is a comparatively new entity, having been formed in 2006 initially as a party in Catalonia but which is now country-wide. It has performed reasonably well in its Catalonian heartland (nine parliamentary seats at the 2012 election) but less well nationally; it has no deputy in Congress. Nevertheless, a recent poll suggested that the party could take 12% of the national vote, which is an extraordinarily high poll rating when one considers the support for Podemos.
Ciudadanos is a reminder that reforming parties had been created some years before Podemos came on the scene. Changes to the political system, anti-corruption, Ciudadanos has had something of the Podemos philosophy without drawing as much attention to itself. It was a creation of a time that well pre-dated Podemos when great misgivings with the current political system were already been voiced. Almost simultaneous with its founding was that of the centrist Unión Progreso y Democracia (UPyD), which has also placed emphasis on political reform and with which pacts have been suggested but ruled out.
One area of reform that Ciudadanos (C's) and the UPyD have in common is that of local government. The UPyD has previously advocated reducing the number of town halls in Spain. The president of C's, Albert Rivera, agrees. He proposed the other day that town halls be cut by a massive 7,000, to leave only 1,000 and did so within the context of a programme of "democratic regeneration". In this, the emphasis differs to that of the UPyD, which has pointed to the massive cost savings that could be made.
But is Rivera's proposal contradictory? A strong argument in favour of small units of local government is that they benefit democracy. Localism increases citizen involvement, it hastens and improves decision-making, it acts as a buttress against corruption of more centralised forms of government. These small units can be and are tiny. In Mallorca the tiniest is Escorca with fewer than 300 people, greatly outnumbered by the local goat population.
This theory of localism is not, however, well observed in practice. Town halls may be better at understanding local issues and so making informed decisions, but as for citizen involvement and corruption, the evidence in favour doesn't stack up. There is repeated criticism of the lack of transparency and information at town halls, which therefore limits involvement, while corruption cases or allegations of corruption are never too far from the surface. Just consider that at present there are investigations related to Andratx, Calvia (the radio affair), Felanitx, Lloseta, Marratxi, Pollensa, Vilafranca. Go back over time and you will find any number of cases of corruption, allegations and electoral fraud. It might be noted that the leader of the El Pi party, Jaume Font, was once disqualified for eight months from public office because of such a fraud in Sa Pobla, which he denied. (And he subsequently romped home as mayor.)
For all the faults with local, town hall government, Rivera's proposal sounds like one that would replace one imperfect system with another. If localism, warts and all, is truly a more democratic form of government, then how would drastically undermining it result in democratic regeneration? The UPyD line, that of greater efficiencies in terms of cost and administration, has, on the face of it, more merit, but however the case for reducing the number of town halls is styled, a reduction would bring with it perils.
The UPyD suggested three years ago that towns with fewer than 20,000 people in Mallorca should be merged. In other words the town halls would be merged. Under this suggestion, there would be only five municipalities that would be unaffected. For modernisers and, dare I say it, those with a British perspective on such matters, the suggestion would make sense; it is undeniable that services in smaller towns are comparatively and proportionally more expensive than in larger towns. But it is a suggestion that flies in the face of the sociology and culture of the villages and towns. The town hall is symbolic of local identity. It may not be the final word in efficiency. It may not be without its dodginess, but when there are villages like Buger (fractionally more than 1,000 people) which can celebrate anniversaries of "independence", the importance of village identity and of its prime institution makes tampering with that institution extremely risky.
The risk may explain why national government has shied away from radical reform. Significant reductions in the number of councillors (which will be the case with this year's elections) are as far as it has gone. It might be said that it has missed the opportunity, presented by economic crisis, to effect real reform, but was there ever the stomach for it?
Showing posts with label Unión Progreso y Democracia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Unión Progreso y Democracia. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Lacking Courage: Town hall mergers
The Unión Progreso y Democracia (UPyD) is one of those on the face of it sensible political parties that spring up now and then that make you wonder why other political parties are not sensible and are inhabited by politicians who are quite plainly mad, like the Partido Popular. (Oh, and in the interests of fairness, PSOE as well.) Having been assigned a position of centrist by no less than the "Financial Times", the UPyD is meant to have been "wooing disenchanted Spaniards" (so said the FT two years ago). It hasn't done this in any great measure, but then it has only been around for five years while it has discovered, during its short period of existence, that breaking the domination of two-party politics is as difficult in Spain as it is in other countries.
Nevertheless, the UPyD ploughs on, coming up periodically with eminently sensible suggestions which, because they are sensible, will undoubtedly be ignored. Its latest foray into the realms of sensibleness is to suggest that town halls in the Balearics should be merged and that island councils should be done away with. Goodness me, what a suggestion. I can't begin to think where I have heard it before. All due modesty prevents me from hinting that the UPyD might have taken notice of what I have written, but I will for once throw off any immodesty and point out that I have said exactly this on several occasions in the past.
The UPyD has identified, it says, a few euros or so that might be saved through a rationalisation of the system of Balearic public administration that, in its totality, ran to 1,180 million euros between 2008 and 2011. A significant saving of 18,000 million, as an example, could come from mergers of towns with fewer than 20,000 residents, i.e. most of the towns and villages in Mallorca.
One does have to take their word as to these savings, but as the public coffers are so empty, as the cost of operating the various levels of regional government has been identified as a major contributor to the Spanish deficit, and as all manner of international bodies have called for a rethink of regional government as a means of tackling the deficit, you would have to believe that it might have a point.
"Courageous steps" are required, continues the UPyD, in confronting the deficit and the lack of confidence that most of the world has in Spain's ability to truly get to grips with the deficit. While national government faffs around, it seems perverse that it shouldn't take a long hard look at something that is staring it in the face; its own system of public administration. But if national government won't act, then regional government should, which is what the UPyD is suggesting.
The courage to propose let alone effect a merger of town halls and an elimination of the island councils would be one beyond any Balearic politician, such as President Bauzá. Just think about it for a moment. There are all the PP-run town halls with PP mayors and councillors raking in a nice little earner. Start merging town halls and most of these mayors would have to go back to running their bars. And as for the town hall staffs, they would have to hope that the former mayors would be able to find them a job as a barman or waitress. If a PP-led regional government were to insist upon mergers, which would inevitably result in a good deal of job losses, the party would find itself booted out of office next time round. It wouldn't do it because it would lack the courage to do so, knowing it would be electoral suicide.
Local democracy and government in a Mallorcan style, for all their merits, and there are many, have created a monster of jobs for the boys and girls and of inefficiency and duplication that would be enormously difficult to kill off. Yet, in different ways, structures exist or are being mooted, that would make mergers a possibility. There are already the mancomunidades of co-operating municipalities. Tourism, it is being proposed, will be organised through municipality co-operation; in the north of the island a board to oversee police in five towns is to be created.
The courage thing, the lack of courage thing, would stop there being a going of the whole hog to town hall mergers, even if combining smaller municipalities would make sense, as the UPyD knows. In the whole of Spain, its only mayor presides over the "municipality" of Hernansancho in Castilla y León. And its population is? 200.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Nevertheless, the UPyD ploughs on, coming up periodically with eminently sensible suggestions which, because they are sensible, will undoubtedly be ignored. Its latest foray into the realms of sensibleness is to suggest that town halls in the Balearics should be merged and that island councils should be done away with. Goodness me, what a suggestion. I can't begin to think where I have heard it before. All due modesty prevents me from hinting that the UPyD might have taken notice of what I have written, but I will for once throw off any immodesty and point out that I have said exactly this on several occasions in the past.
The UPyD has identified, it says, a few euros or so that might be saved through a rationalisation of the system of Balearic public administration that, in its totality, ran to 1,180 million euros between 2008 and 2011. A significant saving of 18,000 million, as an example, could come from mergers of towns with fewer than 20,000 residents, i.e. most of the towns and villages in Mallorca.
One does have to take their word as to these savings, but as the public coffers are so empty, as the cost of operating the various levels of regional government has been identified as a major contributor to the Spanish deficit, and as all manner of international bodies have called for a rethink of regional government as a means of tackling the deficit, you would have to believe that it might have a point.
"Courageous steps" are required, continues the UPyD, in confronting the deficit and the lack of confidence that most of the world has in Spain's ability to truly get to grips with the deficit. While national government faffs around, it seems perverse that it shouldn't take a long hard look at something that is staring it in the face; its own system of public administration. But if national government won't act, then regional government should, which is what the UPyD is suggesting.
The courage to propose let alone effect a merger of town halls and an elimination of the island councils would be one beyond any Balearic politician, such as President Bauzá. Just think about it for a moment. There are all the PP-run town halls with PP mayors and councillors raking in a nice little earner. Start merging town halls and most of these mayors would have to go back to running their bars. And as for the town hall staffs, they would have to hope that the former mayors would be able to find them a job as a barman or waitress. If a PP-led regional government were to insist upon mergers, which would inevitably result in a good deal of job losses, the party would find itself booted out of office next time round. It wouldn't do it because it would lack the courage to do so, knowing it would be electoral suicide.
Local democracy and government in a Mallorcan style, for all their merits, and there are many, have created a monster of jobs for the boys and girls and of inefficiency and duplication that would be enormously difficult to kill off. Yet, in different ways, structures exist or are being mooted, that would make mergers a possibility. There are already the mancomunidades of co-operating municipalities. Tourism, it is being proposed, will be organised through municipality co-operation; in the north of the island a board to oversee police in five towns is to be created.
The courage thing, the lack of courage thing, would stop there being a going of the whole hog to town hall mergers, even if combining smaller municipalities would make sense, as the UPyD knows. In the whole of Spain, its only mayor presides over the "municipality" of Hernansancho in Castilla y León. And its population is? 200.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
The Council Tack
The Unión Progreso y Democracia (UPyD) party has nicked my idea. It has proposed that the islands' councils, and the Mallorca council in particular, be scrapped. You may know that I had suggested this recently, as I have suggested it before over the years.
I don't suppose for one moment that there are those in the UPyD who are paying any attention to what I have to suggest, but I'll settle for the fact that one party at any rate seems to see the sense in getting rid of the Council of Mallorca and therefore the lack of sense of its being.
There again, the UPyD, new kids on the political block, having been only formed in 2007, doesn't have much to lose by making audacious proposals. Not that it is necessarily that audacious. There are hints that the Partido Popular (PP) might be thinking along similar lines, while the PSOE candidate for national president, Alfredo Rubalcaba, has sort of flagged up the idea as well. The UPyD, though, is the only party to come out and say unequivocally that the Council should go.
The UPyD is a party that you might describe as being a bit like the Liberal Democrats. It is of the centre, and while it is against nationalism, and so distances itself from the PP with its nationalist tendencies, it also believes there is too much decentralisation of government in Spain. This is less an anti-regionalism philosophy and more a practical one.
The momentum towards eliminating the Council and therefore the cost of running it and the duplications it causes is gathering, as also a momentum is growing to cut back or eliminate other forms of provincial government in Spain below that of the autonomous communities (of which the Balearics are one).
What might hold this momentum back is the history of the Council. It is only relatively new, having been formed, along with the councils of the other Balearic islands, after the collapse of the Franco regime and with the introduction of autonomous government in the islands in the early 1980s.
Consequently, the Council is symbolic of the new democratic era in the Balearics and in Spain as a whole. And there is a bit more history to it. Island councils were due to have been formed in the 1930s, but the Civil War got in the way. Prior to this, there had only been a provincial deputation for the Balearics as a whole (which dated back to the first half of the nineteenth century). The fact that the Council's existence was delayed by some fifty years by Franco does give an historical as well as an emotional force that demands that it should stay.
The Council has a whole raft of responsibilities, granted to it under the constitution and statutes relating to the autonomous communities. To take these away completely, and so follow the trend started by the removal of tourism promotion and absorbing them within the regional government, would require a constitutional change. Or at least, one would imagine that it would.
Getting rid of the Council would be fraught with danger because it would be nuanced by parties with strong regional philosophies as turning the clock back to the bad old days and as undermining the authority given to the islands when they were made an autonomous community.
Of these parties, however, only the Mallorcan socialists really count for anything at present. PSOE (nationally if not locally) appears as though it might be adopting a more pragmatic approach which would allow for the Council's dismantling, while the PP locally would probably be prepared to go along with it. The UPyD doesn't really count for much either, but it has at least brought the subject fully out into the open.
The threat to the Council comes mainly because of financial pressures. The discussion as to its future is belated though, which may sound odd as it is an institution barely thirty years old. But its youth tells a different story. The Council was formed in the glow of the new democracy. It is symbolic, there is no question about this, but whether the organisation in that glow of democracy was the right one is the question that now should be asked. And it is being asked.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
I don't suppose for one moment that there are those in the UPyD who are paying any attention to what I have to suggest, but I'll settle for the fact that one party at any rate seems to see the sense in getting rid of the Council of Mallorca and therefore the lack of sense of its being.
There again, the UPyD, new kids on the political block, having been only formed in 2007, doesn't have much to lose by making audacious proposals. Not that it is necessarily that audacious. There are hints that the Partido Popular (PP) might be thinking along similar lines, while the PSOE candidate for national president, Alfredo Rubalcaba, has sort of flagged up the idea as well. The UPyD, though, is the only party to come out and say unequivocally that the Council should go.
The UPyD is a party that you might describe as being a bit like the Liberal Democrats. It is of the centre, and while it is against nationalism, and so distances itself from the PP with its nationalist tendencies, it also believes there is too much decentralisation of government in Spain. This is less an anti-regionalism philosophy and more a practical one.
The momentum towards eliminating the Council and therefore the cost of running it and the duplications it causes is gathering, as also a momentum is growing to cut back or eliminate other forms of provincial government in Spain below that of the autonomous communities (of which the Balearics are one).
What might hold this momentum back is the history of the Council. It is only relatively new, having been formed, along with the councils of the other Balearic islands, after the collapse of the Franco regime and with the introduction of autonomous government in the islands in the early 1980s.
Consequently, the Council is symbolic of the new democratic era in the Balearics and in Spain as a whole. And there is a bit more history to it. Island councils were due to have been formed in the 1930s, but the Civil War got in the way. Prior to this, there had only been a provincial deputation for the Balearics as a whole (which dated back to the first half of the nineteenth century). The fact that the Council's existence was delayed by some fifty years by Franco does give an historical as well as an emotional force that demands that it should stay.
The Council has a whole raft of responsibilities, granted to it under the constitution and statutes relating to the autonomous communities. To take these away completely, and so follow the trend started by the removal of tourism promotion and absorbing them within the regional government, would require a constitutional change. Or at least, one would imagine that it would.
Getting rid of the Council would be fraught with danger because it would be nuanced by parties with strong regional philosophies as turning the clock back to the bad old days and as undermining the authority given to the islands when they were made an autonomous community.
Of these parties, however, only the Mallorcan socialists really count for anything at present. PSOE (nationally if not locally) appears as though it might be adopting a more pragmatic approach which would allow for the Council's dismantling, while the PP locally would probably be prepared to go along with it. The UPyD doesn't really count for much either, but it has at least brought the subject fully out into the open.
The threat to the Council comes mainly because of financial pressures. The discussion as to its future is belated though, which may sound odd as it is an institution barely thirty years old. But its youth tells a different story. The Council was formed in the glow of the new democracy. It is symbolic, there is no question about this, but whether the organisation in that glow of democracy was the right one is the question that now should be asked. And it is being asked.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
MALLORCA TODAY - Call for island councils to be abolished
The UPyD (Unión Progreso y Democracia), a party which was formed nationally in 2007 and which has only made its presence felt in Mallorca quite recently, has called for the councils in the Balearics, such as the Council of Mallorca, to be scrapped. This is on account of a lack of transparency and of the duplication in bureaucracy and public administration that they represent. (I have, on several occasions, drawn into question the purpose of the Council of Mallorca, suggesting its abolition or that its responsibilities be reduced significantly.)
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