Back to the future (political)

The snapshot is a selfie of Biff (Tom Wilson) uploaded to Instagram by Lorraine (Lea Thompson).

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
27 February 2023 Monday 01:24
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Back to the future (political)

The snapshot is a selfie of Biff (Tom Wilson) uploaded to Instagram by Lorraine (Lea Thompson). She has more than 60,000 likes. In it we see them together with Marty (Michael J. Fox) and Doc (Christopher Lloyd) in the Back to the Future reunion 38 years later. A trip back in time thanks to a fan convention in Oregon who are still motivated by a story whose red thread presents an unforeseeable future reality. Unexpected except for those who have been (will be) there to experience it, like a humble black waiter who will become mayor of the city or a mediocre actor who will be the president of the United States, Ronald Reagan. As fortuitous as an octogenarian communist economist running for president today through a far-right party.

Spanish politics has lived since 2014 in its particular Hill Valley. And as the movie says, you may not like the song, but your kids will love it. The single has three notes: multi-party vs. bipartisanship is the verse, coalitions vs. lone governments, the bridge, and leader of leaders vs. hyper-leadership, the chorus. And the album is like the hoverboard: “Perestroika or restoration”.

For Vox, as for Biff, the question remains the same: "Knock, knock, is anyone home?" Ramón Tamames' motion of no confidence is more than a return to the (political) future. No one should overreact. Some investiture partners are doing it and it is a mistake with which they do not help the Government. The censorship is against the PSOE and the PP. And technically it's two motions in one. It has nothing to do, therefore, with that of Santiago Abascal against Pablo Casado. It is not a parliamentary show, it is article 113 of the Constitution. And it must be treated like other motions, with the same dignity. Many of us disagree, true, it does not have the votes to be victorious, of course, but motions can be won by losing, as Felipe González demonstrated in 1980. For this reason it is very dangerous, it requires thinking carefully about the message, who intervenes and with what arguments. Because it will have effects at the gates of the municipal and regional ones, such as confirming their own voters in the following polls and the impact on the undecided.

Formulated in its two stages, as indicated in article 177 of the regulation, the intentions are better appreciated: in the censorship phase it will be a Vox deputy, presumably its leader, who will pose his ideological challenge; and in the proposal phase we will have a more transversal Tamames, as a reference for the transition, who will not make a speech but an opinion. That is to say, an opinion, a technical-political judgment, almost expert, as a balance on the State of the Coalition through the Nation. It's sure to make a good speech, because he's a man of ideas. And there will be sentence. Will it connect the street with the ruling? That is the question.

To achieve this, he will try to elevate himself as if he were the president of the Council of State rather than a candidate. Like that wise man who rises to the rostrum at 89 years of age, who does not express opinion but judgment, who issues recommendations more than observations. His opponents in the motion have contributed so much to lower expectations that only with a good blow will Cassius Clay appear. Motions are decided long before they are debated and voted on, and this is already being played.

Pedro Sánchez can win it if he acts as a team. The roles are important and that's not why you're a chicken, as they told Marty. He must show courtesy by answering in both phases, but could accommodate other ministers, Yolanda Díaz and Podemos. A communist is Tamames' nemesis. Like Doc with the DeLorean, if you're going to do something, do it in style. Tamames has a weakness. That he is a far-right candidate has a rhyme among the dignitaries of the PCE Central Committee who whispered years ago "And Tamames knew it...". And what did he know? Is it true that he knew about Tejero's coup in 1981 before? And that he was going to be the economy minister of General Alfonso Armada? Both Santiago Carrillo and Julio Anguita were convinced that he knew. He twice made public statements in favor of a government headed by a military man and ends 42 years later appearing in a motion with Vox. Be careful with time travel, because a change in the future can alter your past.