Well, well, well .... it is fairly unique for a Portuguese person not to have to introduce towards the large world out there what's typical in this country - touristically sold as Europe's best kept secret - and so it appears to be with the top level political doorslamming in the last 3 days.
The departure of one of the ECOFIN's favorite ministers and the break between the goverment's coalition parties has struck headlines in anything from worldwide tabloids to trading room screens, not to mention the social networking.
Yes, there is food for multi-national thought in the events which bear relevance for what the EU and the IMF should generally expect from countries with whom financial aid packages are agreed.
In a mere domestic sphere however the Portuguese people are vividly confronted with the visible slow qualitative evolution of its politicians and painfully reminded of the last occassion where a foreign authority had to summon political party heads to communicate with one another, the time of the formalization of the bailout in April 2011.
I perceived it as particularly relevant that the formation of this government had to consist of more than one political party, so that this potential turning point could also bring in some planning and agreement allowing everyone to concentrate on building day-to-day progress instead of wishy washy distracting disputes that seem to haunt parliamentary debates since forever, knowing that political campaign promisses of not looking or blaming the past would have very short life spans.
The problem is not just with who is in government at present, but involves all of the 230 people that got a seat in parliament and another couple of hundred who stand in line with each election or once were there and now get some fee to be original on TV or as an in-house consultant.
Politicians of a handful parties have taken their country and its population hostage, consciously or not.
The additional €uros each citizen has invested into the national treasury over the past 3 years, accompanied by increasing hardshift in household and business budgets and individual and entrepreneurial lives, risk being instantly converted into higher state debt payments instead of a return of a better day. It is sad that the risk is nearly entirely dependent on what patronizing politicians choose (not) to do or say.
I do not doubt the general patriotism nor the ability or even willingness of many Portuguese politicans to put in the extra hours their position would require. I do question their skill and ability to listen and think before they speak. There are some stringent matters of effectiveness and productivity left unattended nationwide, which is what eventually generated the need for a bailout in the first place.
The events of the past few days show how any attempt for resolve in society can be pulled back by one momentaneous act on a political leadership level and I suspectthis will have discouraging effects on that same society. I can only hope the attention hungry politicians of the moment find a way to step back, take the remaining cheques of the bailout programme and start making some room for a higher degree of civil involvement in matters of state, timely enough for the next elections. It is more likely people will see more of the same however.
If you want to recover some of your money in the meantime, there are internet gambling sites where one can bet on horses, poker players and now also whether this government will stay or go.
No comments:
Post a Comment