The political crisis and the current discontent of the public was the central theme of the debate at this meeting, which was attended by leading figures from the business and economic world.
PROA Communicationa consultancy firm specialising in designing, managing and consolidating the communication and corporate reputation of institutions and companies, as well as of senior executives, has held a new edition of its Current Affairs Dialogues with the participation of consultant and former congressional representative Iván Espinosa de los Monteros y Carlos Soutopolitical consultant, with moderation by Ruben Mansoformer member of Congress.
Espinosa de los Monteros and Souto addressed the main challenges facing citizens today, in a scenario of great political tension and with a civil society tired of seeing how polarisation is increasingly dividing positions.
At the presentation of the Current Affairs DialogueThe meeting is small and guided by rules of confidentiality, Lucía CasanuevaThe key moment in which we find ourselves is not responding to the principles of the Constitution, a pillar that should be based on democracy and rights. "The political principles state that the people must elect their representatives, that they must look after the rights of those who elect them, and that all must be subject to the laws, but, seeing the helplessness of civil society, this is not happening in a satisfactory way," Casanueva pointed out. "Those elected at the political level do not respond to their constituents, but to those who propose them as candidates, which translates into a serious delegitimisation of the political system," he added.
For Espinosa de los Monteros There are three reasons for civil society's disillusionment with politics. According to the former congressional deputy, the design of the system is largely to blame, "since the parties have become the only source of power and influence in this country". The second argument for social disenfranchisement is the behaviour of politicians in recent years. "They have taken advantage of the system. There has been an enormous disloyalty in politics towards Spain because they have renounced their vocation to defend values", Espinosa de los Monteros pointed out. The third key factor "is the citizens, who are not demanding of politicians and have allowed this disconnection with reality. We have been very comfortable, nobody complained when the politicians invaded the savings banks, and today we are still paying for the bailouts", added the consultant.
For Carlos SoutoThere is "a serious crisis of global political representativeness", which means a growing disconnection from civil society. "Politicians have a plan, but they carry it out unscrupulously and unethically, and it is always to the detriment of civil society. To this end, he urges citizens to raise their grievances and opposition parties, in any era, to support them, "as civil society needs them more than ever".
Ruben Manso reminded the speakers that one of the main problems in the discourse between citizens and politicians is that the latter "do not talk about uncomfortable truths such as the state of pensions, immigration, or the model of the country they want, but politicians do not want to confront them because they reduce support", he pointed out.
Democracy as respect for institutions
For Carlos Souto, the polarisation of civil society is more than palpable. "The world is becoming so divided that soon there will be no centre. Spain has a very good business class, but they must be supported by competent politicians, which is not the case," he said.
Espinosa de los Monteros wanted to recall that "democracy is respect for institutions", and that the complaint about politicians responds to an evolution of opinion and models of thought. "Sánchez is not the product of a transitory mental derangement, he is the result of a model of infiltration of public opinion that has been working in the shadows for years throughout society. It is not the fault of the politician who deceives us, it is the fault of those who vote for him once, are deceived, and vote for him again," he said.
During the colloquium with executives from the private sector and representatives of business associations, both speakers answered some doubts, such as whether a Milei effect would be possible in Spain with a similar candidate. In Espinosa de los Monteros' opinion, "in Spain we don't elect presidents, we don't elect representatives of the executive or the judiciary, only the legislature, and with limits. No one can run for office without a party behind them. What Macron or Milei have done is not feasible in Spain". For Souto, it is not feasible either because Spanish citizens "have not yet gone through a continuous situation similar to Argentina's. We would need to suffer Sánchez for forty years. We would need to suffer Sánchez for forty years to see something like that", he added.
Both speakers concluded that it is vital to generate a civil society fabric that is not "subsidised by the state", in which "the problems generated by an over-protective state that prevents society from expressing its opinion and criticising" are "denounced".
