Bill Anderson – It´s Not About Government

It’s not about government, it’s about power

The Spanish elections didn’t produce the predicted results. What a surprise! The polls got it wrong! If politics were a football match we would now be in the penalty shoot out stage: who can score the most goals with the fewest number of kicks?

What we see next is not about government, it is about  power. A Spanish politician once said to me that political parties do not exist to be in opposition, their aim is to be in power. I can’t argue with the logic behind it, but what concerns me is what they will do to achieve their objective. Getting into power will inevitably require giving up some of their power to groups that do not share the same values. The big question is how much power is each of the two big parties (PSOE and PP) prepared to give up in order to get into power and at what cost to the country?

I don’t get too deeply into National politics in Spain, largely because as a foreigner I can’t participate in it, but also because at this stage in the game it is like children going out to the woods to see who can collect the most conquers.

It is ironic that the balance of power seems to lie with the Catalan independence party whose leader has been in exile because of an illegal referendum. You can guarantee that whichever party gets into bed with him will have to pay a big price. How much is Sanchez or Feijóo prepared to pay  for power? Who will be the biggest bidder?

I have no view on Catalan Independence. I feel it is a matter for the Catalan and the Spanish people to fight out in whatever way they want, but it could be a very costly decision if they don’t get it right. Then, of course, there is VOX, the far right party. Their declining popularity saw them lose 19 seats. Of course, it seems natural that a centre right party (PP) should see another right wing party as a natural ally, but at what cost? Closing down the Gibraltar border with potentially devastating consequences for the 15,000 workers who cross the border every day to work there? Is that a price worth paying for power?

So, what happens now? Well, the new members of parliament will be sworn in on 17th August and King Filipe VI will summon the political leaders to see if a government can for formed: Feijóo  will claim that as the winner by a simple majority he should be invited to form a government. But if no agreements can be reached within two months, there will likely be another General election before the end of the year.

I guess that neither of the two leaders would see this as a first choice, so the power games will be going crazy over the coming weeks.

My big concern at the moment is that any price is worth paying, not to get into government, but to get into power.  I think I will just stop considering the options  and let the universe do its stuff.