A country that doesn’t walk, drags on
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From the series “I don’t want this objective”, and the politicians who have marked this campaign, it is not without being continually to continue with themes of ideas, for years – for decades –, spending millions of taxpayers and without countries leaving the same place.
Let’s take as a first example the new Lisbon airport, a need identified more than 50 years ago, how many times the earth has turned the sun. Will Portela be extended or are we going to OTA? Portela no longer has space and OTA is not exactly the best place to land planes. The best thing is to cross the bridge and build the one here on the south bank. And, by the way, another bridge is built, which is always missing. But where on the south bank? In Alcochete? Or not Montijo? In Montijo it is boring, it seems that birds are walking there and the terrain is marshy. Then we go to Alcochete, but the problem is the same. Goddamn birds we’re not going to build a new airport! “And Sintra?”, shout some. “And Monte Real”, shout others. “Why not Beja?”, shouts the PAN. As well as that, it already has an airport and the flies that walk there don’t even bother much that some planes land there.
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Where is the new airport anyway? In the endless studies of its location and in the millions spent on consultants and architectural firms, who are profiting from easy money paid by taxpayers.
Here we are in 2022. No new airport and still contesting a decision that has already been taken several times, but does not happen never. And whoever talks about the airport can also talk about the railroad. There isn’t a politician on a campaign who won’t take his train ride. It’s not the future, it’s the present. But the population in Portugal are few, slow and do not meet the needs of a people who continue to choose to go by car, instead of watching the trains crammed with people.
Everything has already been promised and the opposite has always been fulfilled. From the prime ministers who promised us high speed to those who took their foot off high speed and stayed with high speed, two decades later we will continue to compete, in each campaign, as if it were the first time.
Another recurring theme is health. A family doctor for every Portuguese, the end of waiting lists and decent conditions for those who have the misfortune of ending up in a hospital bed. It’s like running programs from all the parties or television at eight in the evening, which will be repeated with each promise of promise, as if the parties are always inventing the wheel and we were all forgetful.
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About our incredible ability to drag problems, we can’t forget about the banks. Those who were nationalized or those who were resolved by the State, who were billed perpetually by politicians to the unfortunates who are paying with their taxes, are amusing themselves by blaming each other. This probably won’t talk about justice anymore, more years to judge the reasons that probably won’t talk about the life they have left.
Which leads to the reform of justice, implored by all who are part of it and by a few more who are victims of it, but which continues to be “debated” at each campaign, at each election.
Or the country’s administrative reform — call it regionalization or decentralization, whichever you prefer — which continues to run up against the lack of political courage to do so.
If we were as efficiently solving problems as we are discussing them, we certainly wouldn’t be.
Someone was telling me this week that the only way to reform in Portugal is an absolute majority for one party. The argument may only resemble the compliments of José Sócrates. But, in everything else, what do we advance an absolute majority that – admitted – reforms justice, health and everything else that needs to be reformed, if in the political alternation, typical of democracy, the “reform” of the party that follows is to undo everything that was done before? Why does António want an absolute majority in these initiatives, if his government program is a budget with a budget from the left to the right and there is not a single reform?
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Whoever wins the next day wins January 30, if the parties – those that do not have this sense of responsibility – will not be able to find a platform of minimum understanding on what has been urgently resolved in the country for years, we will continue to drag on. And, I guarantee, in the legislative laws, we are going to contest the exact same problems.