I do not want to speak about the last economic plenary of the Congress in summer time. It does not make much sense nor is it of interest to continue complicating what Solbes said. The situation is too serious for trivialities. A couple of billion leaks cannot be covered up with only a million patches.

In the electoral campaign our mouths and pens were filled, with reason, with informal meetings, all notaries and opinion givers, insisting on the necessity of painstakingly observing the programmes proposed by the parties and forgetting when voting about personalities dressed with moustaches, grey hairs, beer bellies and other witty jokes by the party leaders. It was like preaching in the wilderness. The great majority turn a deaf ear. However, we shall insist.

It occurred to me to reread the economic part of the programmes that the Economic School of Madrid sent to all its collegians. They were lost in the dust. In just two months they had become covered with the spider's webs of forgetfulness, some more than others. That of the PSOE could not be read in spite of thoroughly using the feather duster. I believe to recall that it said more or less the opposite of what they are doing.

I centred my reading on that of the PP because in that way I made the most of the scarce time that I had. I killed two birds with one stone and read the programmes of the PP and CIU . There one could read quite a good diagnosis of the situation: Monetary policy had adopted a markedly restrictive tone in the previous years to partly compensate the expansive influence of budgetary policy. The Spanish economy had passed from receiving the trust of the main world investors to raising all kinds of mistrust inside and out; the seriousness of the crisis was superior to what official statistics revealed (it was underestimated) and in short the great loser was employment. After the diagnosis there were some well structured pages explaining concrete proposals to solve the crisis. To glean some contents it spoke about reducing interest rates, from suppression of administrative and fiscal obstacles to the creation of companies, budgetary austerity, from tax reforms to the service of investment and saving, fiscal harmony in the financing of the autonomous Communities, privatising some public companies, new social ethics,... etc.

There is no other way. It does not matter who does it but there has to be stimulation of the task of the active sector of society in quantity and quality, motivating companies and workers to work, so that they are able to sustain and drag the passive sector towards activity (the State included). If this is not achieved we shall all end up in the passive lists: passives of nothing.

The economic reality does not know about majorities or coalitions. It is unaware of the colours of the left or right and the great economic principles of common sense end up prevailing over ideological winds and tides. The victory of the PP (or of any other) will always be in connecting with the new airs of the open realities that impose themselves with quiet stubbornness. In order to triumph the PP does not have to complicate life or make a fuss. Its ideas and paying attention to Julio Anguita are enough: to govern right now with "programme, programme and programme."

The victory can be qualified as emphatic because Aznar's most controversial and answered statement can be fulfilled: If the PP programme were put into practice I would not mind if Pujol governed Spain. That statement can become a prophecy because of tricky and complicated political dynamics. Pujol can govern in Spain with the PP programme through González's antiquated facade and his people. The silent clamour of reality transforms everyone into hostages and marionettes of its irreversible advance.

Joseph John Franch Menéu
Diario 16, Tuesday August 10th 1993