Today's politics is based on the idea that the truth is on our side. More or less like the driver who, when entering the wrong direction on a highway and notices that the cars are coming straight ahead, is convinced that it was not he who was wrong, but everyone else. It is possible that this act of faith in oneself increases his self-esteem, but what is certain is that it goes against his interests. And above all, it threatens his own safety.
In politics, we are getting used to the fact that the opposition must say “no to everything”, even to what benefits it. It is more important to delegitimize the opponent than to take advantage of oneself. It has just happened in the Senate, where the popular party has an absolute majority. Their strategy of confrontation has led them this week to overthrow the Government's path of budgetary stability, which is the only parliamentary initiative in which the Upper House has the last word, despite the fact that this means reducing public spending in the autonomous communities and town halls. This delays the approval of the budgets, which could be understood, but in return it harms the autonomies. By overthrowing the socialist proposal, the deficit ceiling becomes more restrictive. And who does it harm? Well, above all, the PP, which governs eleven autonomies and the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, and the 3,200 town councils in which it governs (40% of the country).
What was the argument used by Senator Eva Ortiz (PP) to defend her position? No economic reason, of course, but ideological: “Her government is the greatest threat to democracy.” Vice President María Jesús Montero replied: “Their position lacks any political logic, since they act against their own interests and that makes no sense in politics.”
In reality, it makes complete sense in this surreal game in which Spanish politics has been established for some time, where “no to everything” is the opposition strategy. The least important thing is to shoot yourself in the foot, because we will always have the other person to support us. In the cinema, John Wayne in El Dorado spends the entire film with a bullet in his body, which affects his actions. But in the PP they have not seen the film, nor have they listened to their barons.
