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Spain Is In The Hands Of Thieves
By Esther Vivas
Source: esthervivas.com
Sunday, February 03, 2013
No doubt. We are in the hands of thieves. The Barcenas, Pallerols, Crespo, Nóos and Mercurio cases, added to the Gürtel case, Millet, Champion, Pretoria and many others, show that those who have been giving us lessons of austerity have been benefitting: not only the bankers and businessmen but also, when the cameras have not focussed on them, the politicians, who have filled their pockets in order to live in opulence and extravagance. And at our expense.
Mayors, former ministers, regional leaders, senators, councillors, MPs… a total of more than 300 politicians are under investigation for corruption. And sleaze is present at all levels of public administration. Corruption looms, too, in the General Council of the Judiciary, including the governors of the Bank of Spain and the Royal Family. Here no one is exempt. And we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg.
Mayors, former ministers, regional leaders, senators, councillors, MPs… a total of more than 300 politicians are under investigation for corruption. And sleaze is present at all levels of public administration. Corruption looms, too, in the General Council of the Judiciary, including the governors of the Bank of Spain and the Royal Family. Here no one is exempt. And we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg.
Nature of today’s corruption
Corruption is not perceived today as it was in the past. Now it is regarded as an intrinsic part of the crisis. The impunity enjoyed by political corruption seems to be over. At a time when the pillars that built the system during the Democratic Transition, and where there’s a rapid loss of legitimacy of institutions and political representatives for their subservience to financial power, it is likely that the impact of corruption on public opinion and voting behavior will be more severe. And in so far as it increases unemployment, poverty and insecurity, illicit enrichment of the elites at the expense of the majority it is becoming an unbearable burden. The crisis is no longer seen as resulting from the ‘waste’ of the current people but as ‘theft’ and ‘fraud’ of the ruling class.
Now is therefore the time to act, say stop and take action: demand mechanisms of control over public officials, the revocation of mandates, the de-professionalisation of politics, the end to the accumulation of public posts, a limit on salaries, and transparency in accounts. Yesterday thousands of people gathered outside Popular Party headquarters in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Zaragoza and La Coruña. A first step in a new surge in the streets? The Barcenas case is the straw that breaks the camel’s back. It is high time that they return all that they have stolen from us.
Corruption is not perceived today as it was in the past. Now it is regarded as an intrinsic part of the crisis. The impunity enjoyed by political corruption seems to be over. At a time when the pillars that built the system during the Democratic Transition, and where there’s a rapid loss of legitimacy of institutions and political representatives for their subservience to financial power, it is likely that the impact of corruption on public opinion and voting behavior will be more severe. And in so far as it increases unemployment, poverty and insecurity, illicit enrichment of the elites at the expense of the majority it is becoming an unbearable burden. The crisis is no longer seen as resulting from the ‘waste’ of the current people but as ‘theft’ and ‘fraud’ of the ruling class.
Now is therefore the time to act, say stop and take action: demand mechanisms of control over public officials, the revocation of mandates, the de-professionalisation of politics, the end to the accumulation of public posts, a limit on salaries, and transparency in accounts. Yesterday thousands of people gathered outside Popular Party headquarters in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Zaragoza and La Coruña. A first step in a new surge in the streets? The Barcenas case is the straw that breaks the camel’s back. It is high time that they return all that they have stolen from us.
Full article: http://www.zcommunications.org/spain-is-in-the-hands-of-thieves-by-esther-vivas
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