“Since 2015, there has been virtually no governance.” This is the premise launched by the director of the Chair of Public Policies at the University of Murcia (UMU), Ismael Crespo, during the seminar “Electoral Reforms and Governance”. This debate was a meeting point between different experts to propose possible solutions to the problem of ungovernability in the country.
The event took place in the building of Rector Sabater of the UMU, in the capital of Segura, in the presence of five experts in law and political science. Among the participants were the president of the Region of Murcia, Fernando López Miras, the advisor to the Presidency, Marcos Ortuño, and the mayor of San Javier, José Miguel Luengo.
This day allowed us to highlight the work of the Chair of Public Policy at the University of Murcia. The moderator – and professor – Ismael Crespo stressed that this debate is a reflection “on the provision we have of institutional mechanisms that They can make the country much more governable in these situations. »
And the professor highlights the year 2015 as a moment of change in the political scene of the country, due to the arrival of Ciudadanos and Podemos in Congress, break the traditional two-party system.
“We have gone from a two-party system to a moderate multi-party system,” specifies the professor. This implies that in the current political scenario, there are “many micro-actors who, apart from two voices, perhaps condition political reality of an entire country.”
(ID) The mayor of San Javier and secretary general of the PPRM, José Miguel Luengo, participates in the seminar “Electoral reforms and governance”; the vice-mayor of Murcia, Rebeca Pérez; the president of the Region of Murcia, Fernando López Miras and the advisor to the Presidency, Marcos Ortuño.
The current situation generates a series of political and institutional blocking dynamics which were at the center of this seminar. Indeed, Ismael Crespo maintains that “We must reverse the debate between representation and governancewho was very present in the Transition and managed to arrive at a model which combined the two things.
An example of the instability generated in this situation is the possibility that budgets were not resolved in December national or regional. Faced with this possibility, the professor reflects on the opportunity “to study electoral and institutional reforms to avoid this type of blockage”.
With this in mind, the professor proposes to study the Basque model of Lehendakari investituresince it “avoids any type of blocking”. Indeed, this model was at the center of one of the presentations of the morning, given by the doctor in Political Sciences Daniel Casal.
Furthermore, Ismael Crespo recalls that “for about five years we have had coalition or minority governments in the majority of Autonomous Communities.” A situation which leads to “a major government paralysis“.
The director of the UMU Chair of Public Policy and moderator of the seminar, Ismael Crespo.
Fragile coalitions
Precisely, the first intervention of the seminar aimed to show the fragility of governments in political systems which favor representation. The professor of law at the University of Valencia, Alexandre Català, who led this part of the debate, assures that “the absence of absolute majorities forces the formation of fragile and sensitive to political blackmail generating instability“.
However, Català also states that “in the political parties of our country there is no internal debate or heterogeneity“. The university professor presents the arguments in favor of approving the ‘Trans Law’ because, in his opinion, “it should have sparked a great debate within the PSOE. However, the only one who raised her voice was Carmen Calvo and it cost them their position. » A situation which is also extrapolated to Autonomies.
As Ismael Crespo had already announced before the start of the seminar, Català refers once again to the political paradigm shift that occurred in 2015. “With this system, you gain global representation,” explains the law professor.
“However, the current scenario means that there is very little representation of the territories“, because the political elite comes entirely from the capital”, that is to say it comes mainly from large cities. In this situation, the professor from the University of Valencia maintains that “to have a political career you have to go to Madrid.” So who defends the interests of small constituencies?
The professor of law from the University of Valencia, Alexandre Català (d), speaks at the seminar “Electoral reforms and governance”.
Despite the complicated situation that Català exposes, he also maintains that it is possible to reach agreements: “The proof is that the Ela law was approved with all the votes in favor.” He warns, however, that “these agreements cannot represent a submission of the majority to the demands and intransigence of the minority“.
This statement refers to the pacts that the Spanish government has concluded in recent months with certain poorly represented political groups. to be able to carry out your program.
Català states that this dynamic “generates instability, and if you have to go through the hoop there are other mechanismssuch as working with decree-laws or consulting citizens again.” Although he recognizes that there is a dichotomy whose poles are very difficult to unite.
“When a party manages to govern calmly, it is criticized for not reaching agreements with others.” Faced with this circumstance, the university professor invites us to reflect on “whether we seek stability or representativeness.” Finding that balance It’s not a question of numbers, but of political culture“.
