and the winning number is ....

This Friday at 20:00 (GMT+0) the Portuguese population will be confronted with yet another speech from its prime minister.  

This will not be just another speech. 

We have seen numerous ones, especially the last 2-3 years, wherein a political leader attempts to compensate the even larger number of less formal or less legitimate debates, commentaries or even outright protests that spread so easily in the true public domain.

This time it will be different and I am not referring to any sudden improvement in a prime minister's vocal ability or presentation skills and not even the form or choice of words that would generally be the only distinction between politicians that claim to be on opposite sides.

Of course (although I still miss the necessity) we will once again be introduced to the impredictable width of an international crises, the inherited weight of previous governors, the indisputable distance with Greece and the inevitable contract with creditors.  We will also hear the announcement of some measures, nothing we have not really heard or seen before, including some now politically popular growth stimulus speeches.

But with that out of the way, for the first time since quite a few years and too many speeches, we will finally hear, or at least be allowed to interpret, an actual timeline.  This is of the utmost essence.  Not just for any common citizen or business person but also for policitians themselves, democratically elected, inside our outside governments or political parties.

For the first time a population and the politicians it has brought forth will come to terms with the extent or price of underestimated wrongdoings in the past and the effects it has on generations. 

Remember how in the not too far past, we would often try any situation on the basis of a worst case scenario ?  Well, in tomorrow's speech it is likely we will probably be led to a best case scenario.

And the winning number will be ...25 ... nothing less than 25 years to arrive at a reasonable level playing field, alongside what currently are considered partner jurisdictions and supra-national entities.

With this time scale, it is fairly irrelevant whether one agrees with the underlying economic projections or not.  What is important is that the notion of the time associated to a present forward looking view, will allow or even force a change of speech and - more importantly - thought and eventually action, into some serious out of the box concepts and it is then that we are really setting a stage for sustainable progress.