It appears to me that the political situation is so bad that there is only one solution. I openly indicated it to the professor Jiménez de Parga some days ago in these pages: in order to revitalize public life it is not necessary to wait until our current politicians clarify and decide to start an important electoral reformation. There are quicker ways.

A peaceful, explosive and accumulative process of political regeneration can already be started by way of tolerance and the transparent and imaginative debate of ideas with their own entity. It is only a question of deciding. It is only a question of forming and formalizing a plural coalition of "independents" whose only bond of union is the explicit commitment of defending the freedom and personal responsibility of each one's vote with a clear conscience in all the voting that is carried out from the parliament for which they were elected. The only signs of identity of the coalition would be active and scrupulous respect to freedom of thought, expression and each elected parliamentarian's personal decision. None of the elected would represent the coalition that would be coordinated, without special structures of power, by a group of remarkable people that would simply look after the maintenance of the foundational nuclear spirit and that also, could not present themselves for any public election while their coordinating function lasted.

What would happen in Spain if, to give a hypothetical example without much thought, parliamentarians who had voluntarily left political life such as Pablo Castellano, Miguel Herrero, Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo, Ramón Tamames, Ricardo García Damborenea, Cristina Almeida or the selfsame Adolfo Suárez with their personal baggage were presented in the most convenient order and in the same list, closed at the moment but plural? What would happen if we add personalities of known solvency like Camilo José Cela, Juan Velarde, Fuentes Quintana, Peces Barba, Antonio Fontán, Ignacio Sotelo, Amando de Miguel, Sánchez Asiain or the selfsame Jimenez de Parga? What would happen if Eduardo Punset with the reflexive and innovative component of Foro and the value and patience of Rafael Calvo Ortega joined to strengthen and coordinate this novel invention in their confused CDS? Add some opinion leaders that you are thinking of and that I omit to avoid attacks of jealousy between them. Also incorporate some active parliamentarians and with their own characteristics that would join a project of this stimulating aspect with great pleasure. Also locate union and managerial leaders who, like everyone, would act under their personal responsibility. As a finishing touch, in discreet parts of the list you could even place Felipe González, José María Aznar, Julio Anguita, Miguel Roca, Francisco Alvarez Cascos or Alfonso Guerra, the show of their bureaucratic partisan paraphernalia robbed and acting in parliamentary bleakness with their personal virtues and defects.

Don't you believe that political and parliamentarian life would be revitalized; debates would lose the current monotony and the shameful show of empty seats and reading of newspapers, yellow press or nude magazines while somebody explains their proposals from the speaker's platform would all be eliminated? Don't you believe that the Legislative would be strengthened, that will truly legislate, debate and reflect on those many problems of our democracy in the medium and long term, leaving the Executive to dedicate itself to working for that indicated by the parliamentarians in the short term? Don't you believe that the Legislative's recovered prestige would rebound positively on the effectiveness and independence of the judiciary that is so lacking? Don't you believe that the political journalist's dignity would be restored who would not be forced to follow the party leader like a lap dog trying to catch the crumbs of a brilliant sentence without specific content to illustrate a headline, and that it would be enough with coming closer to the parliamentary sessions, not in the corridors, to be in the news? Don't you believe that the partisan vote discipline and turn coating would be eliminated by definition and that all this is already in the spirit and letter of the Constitution?

I understand that Thomas More's Utopia is short compared to this but that is what we want. The European Elections would be a good general rehearsal before the closer and closer new general elections because regarding monolithicism, the party cages of chirping crickets, vote discipline and closed lists there is a growing rumour that is uttered in unison, without violent threats, a cry that has a comparison with another that was a landmark in our democracy and that could be repeated peacefully today: Parliament is dissolved...good heavens!

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P.S.: Forgive me those mentioned by surprise (and all those not mentioned) that a Mr Nobody, an economist and second-hand notary, interferes in others' political affairs, but I am one of those that think that the solution to the serious economic problems has to come from an extraordinary Political rebirth.

Joseph John Franch Menéu
Diario 16, Wednesday October 13th 1993