An air of the end of the legislative period
MadridAs we're about to begin a new political year, a certain end-of-term air is taking over the atmosphere. It's often said that August is a special month, with less activity and less significant events. But for a few years now, we've had many important developments in the midst of the heatwave. The clocks no longer stop, especially for public officials, not because vacations are overrated, as Feijóo said, but because certain responsibilities, particularly those of the Prime Minister, are extremely personal and non-delegable. Pedro Sánchez knows this perfectly well. He has demonstrated it on many occasions. It was made clear, for example, when he called the 2023 elections, with the vote in July and the constitutional ceremony of the Corts a few weeks later. His gamble paid off that time, but it will be very difficult to repeat, whether the next election is held sooner or if he waits until 2027, when the current term ends.
In any case, the events of this summer have revealed a different climate than two years ago. The political parties' machinery responds to a permanent pre-election atmosphere, which implies concentrating their energy on the search for any error by the adversary, even if it means forcing the interpretation of events. This has been very evident in recent weeks, and not only because the tragedy of the fires. Both domestically and internationally, summer is no longer a parenthesis. On the contrary, it can serve to consolidate images and sensations, in this case regarding the progress of the government. As a provisional conclusion, I would say that August has been a very busy month, with an abundance of news programs filled with chilling data and images. The most recent ones are about the fires, with fatalities and the frustration of many people who have suffered. the consequences of the fire. Other notable events of this period are more distant, but they also affect us for many reasons. These are, above all, the massacre of the civilian population and famine in Gaza, or of The war in Ukraine and attempts to negotiate a peace agreement that have no prospect of being achieved.
Obviously, these are very different problems, but they have great potential to influence what we call collective consciousness. In general terms, this set of factors favors the creation of a social climate characterized by fatigue. The symptoms of this social malaise are more evident if, to complete the picture, we consider other pending issues with no short-term solution in sight. I am referring, for example, to the effects of the rise in prices in recent years, which is not accompanied by an increase in wages. A combination of problems that has increased the difficulty for many people, especially young people, to exercise their right to access decent housing.
Against this backdrop, images of the fires have been followed for many days by the reproduction of statements from all kinds of political leaders. throwing plates over their heads about responsibility for the firesYou don't have to have lost your home or other possessions in the mountains of León or Ourense to imagine what those affected by this tragedy might be thinking. It's clear that politics involves controversy and scrutiny of the actions of governments—whether state or autonomous communities—but everyone should make an effort at self-criticism regarding the exercise of their responsibilities.
It makes no sense to accuse Sánchez of having sat back for days while northwestern Spain burned, as the secretary general of the People's Party (PP), Miguel Tellado, has stated. But the Socialists should also make an act of contrition and recognize that the comments made by some of their leaders at the start of the fires, making the same accusation against the president of Castile and León, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, also contributed nothing. Neither did Sánchez remain stuck at the La Mareta estate (Fuerteventura) in the first days of the fires, nor did Fernández Mañueco do the same in Málaga. The problem hasn't been a lack of attention once the fires started, but rather a lack—especially in Castile and León—of prevention policies and good resource management.
The political climate
The Socialists and the Popular Party (PP) should be aware of the poor performance they played in both the lack of foresight and the ineffective response to this summer's tragedy. The autonomous state is being put to the test by events like these. No one should be surprised if voter turnout subsequently declines. The difference between the two is that the PSOE will pay the highest price for the shortcomings and errors. This has to do with the initial idea regarding a sense of the end of the term. To overcome the blow caused by the Cerdán-Ábalos-Koldo case of commissions in exchange for public works contracts, the government must implement methods of political action that demonstrate greater responsiveness and greater effectiveness. This corruption affair has meant significant damage, and the PSOE will struggle to regain ground.
Seeing that Sánchez has not been with the monarch and queen during their visits to the areas affected by the fires reminds us of the images from Paiporta on the day the monarch and queen also attended, when Sánchez had to leave after an attempted assault. But there are other facts. For example, the prominence of the Senate—where the PP holds an absolute majority—making the state government's appearances possible in August, while other requests for oversight on various issues, such as immigration policy, were rejected in Congress. The votes for the permanent representative of Congress have been negative for the government because they have once again revealed its parliamentary weakness, even though it has managed to stem the opposition's offensive. However, Junts will have to be careful because the repeated votes it agrees with the PP and Vox could backfire. The moment of truth will come when the full debate on the budget proposal must be addressed. Everyone—the Socialist leader and the minorities who have supported him—is taking a risk if the climate at the end of the term continues and they end up calling early elections.
