The liberal-conservative message is still winning, now the Popolari are missing only the “devolutionist”
There is no doubt that the victory of the Partido Popular (PP) in the early elections for the renewal of the assembly of the Madrid region was clear in terms of numbers, even beyond the already favorable forecasts of the polls. The dimensions of the success of the outgoing president Isabel Díaz Ayuso are however further amplified by the ideological significance of the Madrid challenge which went well beyond the mere dimension of the local "administration".
In fact, the victory of the Popolari has matured in a context that has seen the clear return of the traditional opposition between right and left. Ayuso has presented a proud and uncomplicated conservative political proposal, while the left has made more use of all its most classic ideological paraphernalia.
The Madrid popular leader led, in many ways, a “Thatcherian” campaign, with an almost blasphemous slogan in the historical period that is so culturally statist that we are living – one simple, direct word: “Libertad” . The reference to "freedom" – it is nice to say – was not only a rhetorical device, but found a concrete declination in the government expressed in recent years by the Popolari in Madrid, which was marked by a healthy liberal common sense.
Beyond "market-friendly" policies in general, supported by liberal politicians such as finance advisor Javier Fernández-Lasquetty , it is on the coronavirus that Ayuso has most marked its differences from other regional governments and the national government by Pedro Sánchez. The Madrid government was among the few in Europe to do everything to avoid generalized lockdowns , preferring to them systems of rules that allowed them to remain as open as possible, in order to limit the impacts on economic activities and social relations. In principle, shops, bars, restaurants, museums and theaters remained in operation and closures, when deemed inevitable, were made as “surgical” as possible – neighborhood by neighborhood.
Although accusations of irresponsible "right-wing populism" were being raised on various sides by Ayuso, the choice of a pragmatic and non-prohibitionist approach to the management of the pandemic was rewarded by the facts. The numbers of infections were no worse than in other Spanish regions – often even better. And the economy comes out of it in much more vital conditions than the rest of the country . Above all, however, the People of Madrid understood that a reasonable respect for personal freedom and the dignity of citizens must also be included in the overall equation and that the pandemic emergency could not justify any type of restriction of individual rights.
In more overall terms, it is undeniable that, on the economic and social level, the Partido Popular in recent years has one of the most serious political agendas at European level. Among the great forces of the continental center-right it is the one in which the ideas and principles of individual freedom and economic liberalism seem to echo the most, where in other countries either technocratic centrisms or hasty "right-wing ways to public spending" prevail.
Particularly symbolic, from this point of view, is the spot "Piensa en ti" ("Think of you") with which the PP addressed the national electoral campaign of 2019. In a historical period in which all parties invite you to think " to what the State can do for you ", or to what" you can do the Society ", the PP invited us to think about" finding a job or a better job "," opening a business "," having children " and "to educate them in freedom" and "to move into the house they have dreamed of for some time" – with an individualistic optimism that is more reminiscent of Ronald Reagan's "Morning in America" than the spirit and style of politics we are used to.
The Madrid result is proof that the liberal-conservative message, correctly communicated and consistently expressed, has a significant potential for penetration. We should be aware of this again, even here in Italy where the need would be felt as much as ever for a certain cultural cut.
As for the Spanish Popolari specifically, the question, at this point, is how much the success of Madrid can be extrapolated from a national point of view. What is certain is that the result of the PP represents the return to a clearly majority force within the Spanish center-right, after years in which the fragmentation of the moderate and conservative vote has weakened the prospects for national government. Ciudadanos now seems out of the game, while Vox's climb appears arrestable. In this context, the dynamics of a "useful vote" will, in all likelihood, play in favor of consolidating the position of the Partido Popular .
In fact, the presence, in the center-right, of a single "dominant" party is not only a factor of strength from the point of view of the image, but also guarantees greater efficiency in obtaining seats by virtue of the moderately majority effects of the electoral system.
The real problem of the Popolari today is that a political proposal with the potential to govern Spain is reduced to a structurally minority position due to its misunderstanding of the Catalan and Basque national question. In Catalonia and the Basque Country, the PP does not touch the ball, but what is worse is that, compared to a few years ago, it has lost any ability to ally itself with the moderate and center-right emanations of local nationalism. In 1996 José Maria Aznar arrived at Moncloa with the votes of the Catalan and Basque nationalists; today this would not be possible. The PP speaks only to "Castilian" Spain, while the Socialist Party essentially governs Spain as it is the only political force capable of composing "multi-national" majorities.
Winning without the Basque and Catalan areas not only appears complicated, but it would also be "wrong", since, contrary to the right-left dynamic, conflicts of a national nature cannot be consigned to majority logic alone, but must be composed through relations of coexistence and more “horizontal” institutional mechanisms.
Moreover, the Madrid political experiment represents a success of autonomy. What Isabel Díaz Ayuso and the Partido Popular have managed to put into practice has been made possible by the current degree of "devolution" that the Madrid region has at its disposal and even more could have been achieved if the competences attributed to this region had been even greater. .
Understanding how decentralization and devolution represent "win-win" solutions , how expanding the spaces for self-government is convenient for everyone, and not just for Catalans, Basques and Galicians, today represents the missing piece of a center-right in many other ways mature and culturally equipped like the Spanish one. The feeling is that it will take some time for this piece to find its place.
The post The liberal-conservative message is still winning, now the Popolari are only missing the “devolutionist” piece appeared first on Atlantico Quotidiano .
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Atlantico Quotidiano at the URL http://www.atlanticoquotidiano.it/quotidiano/il-messaggio-liberalconservatore-e-ancora-vincente-ora-ai-popolari-manca-solo-il-tassello-devoluzionista/ on Thu, 06 May 2021 04:02:00 +0000.