A dozen parliamentarians tell the connection between their work and the reality of citizenship
jamie de olano He is a PP deputy for Lugo and a few days ago he received a bishop from the Romanian Orthodox Church in his office in Congress. A friend called him and asked him to meet him. De Olano acknowledges in conversation with THE SPANISH NEWSPAPER, from the Prensa Ibérica group, who right after arranging the interview wondered what a guy like him could do for a Romanian bishop. The bishop went to Congress, they met, he presented a tax issue related to religion and the popular deputy took note. And something very important: your honor He found out something he had no idea about.
Gabriel Ruffian, ERC spokesman in the Chamber, is now involved in the electoral campaign for the mayor of Santa Coloma. He by force has to listen and talk to hundreds of citizens. Well, by force if he wants to inhale something, because if he doesn’t go out and feel the atmosphere of the bars, squares and markets, he’s not going to do well at all. He does it often, he vindicates himself.
So when he doesn’t dress as a candidate, he dresses as a deputy, and with the attire of a deputy for Barcelona, ERC spokesman and media titan, He went to the Carlos III University of Madrid a few days ago and shared a few hours with nearly 300 students.
It was an experience that gave him “hope & rdquor ;, he affirms during the talk with this medium. Rufián is one of those who thinks that the discourse and story of the extreme right is penetrating social layers that he only believed in the left not long ago. The thing that “all politicians are equal & rdquor; It is permeating the imaginaries of humble neighborhoods, where disappointment and skepticism turn into abstention and votes against the system. “There are many mice voting for cats & rdquor;, comment. “The right does not defend the interests of the working class & rdquor ;, she adds.
He went with fear of the university, how not to go like this as the patio is. But it was also with respect. She found a more than gratifying experience at the end because she noted “awareness that the world can be changed & rdquor ;. And hence the hope of him.
The ERC spokesperson, like almost everyone in his group, spends the days outside of Congress, outside of Madrid, getting involved in citizen events, in seminars, debates, conferences, rallies. Pilar VallugeraAbout a month ago, he was in Abrera, a humble Barcelona municipality where many SEAT workers reside. What did you talk about? Housing and effects of the law yes is yes, he answers.
Precisely the issues that at that time ran through the corridors of Congress with more force. The issues that brought the most volume to the political debate. Does the music of what happens in the chamber reach outside? A ten deputies and deputies recounts their impressions and experiences.
What is heard in Congress and what is heard in the bar
Says Elvira Ramon, deputy of the PSOE for Granada, that “Congress is not an isolated bubble & rdquor ;. “It is made up of people with the same problems as the rest. We pay our mortgage, we do the shopping, we have a normal life. we are not aliens”, account.
The perception varies depending on who you ask, because in politics, as in everything, the place from which you look influences. Looking at the parliamentary exercise from the majority that promotes laws is one thing. Looking at it from the minority that does not achieve the triumph of any of its norms is another.
Peter Navarrodeputy of the PP for Zaragoza, a key player in the electoral campaign of Jorge Azcón for the presidency of Aragon, which forces him to stick to the emotional layer of the citizenry, makes an interesting reflection: “The ideological agenda of the Government, inflation, its consequences, all this means that what is heard in Congress and what is heard in the bar are more alike than ever& rdquor ;, he assures.
Sara Gimenezrepresentative of Cs for Huesca, proposed as soon as he sat on the seat for the first time that he would do everything in his power to bring citizen concerns and requests closer to his routine.
Three years later, he believes that “there is a distance between the real needs of the people and parliamentary work& rdquor ;. Many debates, she adds, “are outside of people’s daily concerns, which are employment, making ends meet, rent & mldr; & rdquor ;. Giménez does not like such ideological discussions. It is as if the Chamber became another planet. Sometimes they tell her “to see if you can influence more, Sara, so that they reach agreements and stop fooling around & rdquor ;, according to her words.
Maria Munoz, a group member, in statements to EL PERIÓDICO DE ESPAÑA, is emphatic: “Social concerns are politicians, the economy, health and education. The first is the politicians because they don’t talk about what matters and about the other three… Well, you’ll tell me how many debates there have been in Congress.”
The story against the truth
Giménez remembers that in a recent meeting they asked him about the forced sterilization in women, prohibited by law, and if something like that was possible in Spain until relatively recently.
This leads us to information, and in turn, to the media. The BNG deputy, Néstor Rego, believes that “the big media focus on the priorities and agendas of the three-four major parties at the state level & rdquor ;, which relegates the claims of small formations.
The Galician does not lower his arms, much less his voice. He is one of those who usually struggles in Congress on Tuesdays so that his press conferences attract at least a little attention. It’s not easy. Thanks to the networks, however, and above all thanks to the fact that deals with issues directly out of reality of the Galicians, checks that “the positions of the BNG are known in Galicia and often shared& rdquor ;.
There is no speech that he makes in which a problem in his autonomous community does not shine, the profusion of wind towers, for example. Rego wants to regulate this because the landscape in Galicia and its own sociology are suffering from this “wind power boom”.
Deputy Jordi Salvador, from ERC, is more skeptical. “Sometimes, when I finish the day and review what the media and networks say, I see an abyss with what I have lived in Congress & rdquor ;, he warns. His thesis invites reflection. “The story is more important than the truth. It is seen with the labor reform “, which he often criticizes because it is not a complete return to the model prior to the arrival of the Government of Mariano Rajoy in 2011-2012.
Uxía Tizón, deputy of the PSOE for Ourense, has been a victim of misinformation, she tells this medium in writing. She affirms that the “fake news & rdquor; they are booming, unfortunately, and when she goes to her land to report on the achievements of her parliamentary group and the Government she stumbles upon “misconceptions & rdquor; about what has been done or, directly, with a striking ignorance. Resolving it is “one of the pending issues & rdquor ;, she points out.
His bench partner, Elvira Ramón, agrees. “People are less informed than we think. They have told me ‘you have to change this’ when the change is already approved & rdquor ;, she reflects. For the socialist deputy for Granada, one of her main tasks is “inform citizens on the street, from you to you & rdquor ;. Tizón deepens: “It is very important that each one of us do pedagogy in our territories, in street events”.
live like people
Also coming from Zaragoza, like Navarro, is Noemi Villagrasa. He represents the PSOE. His view of the Parliament-Reality connection is benign. “Despite the noise and the attempt to delegitimize the institutions and ridicule the Parliament of the extreme right, you have to understand that many things happen in Congress that affect people’s day-to-day lives and that are not alien to them,” he says. to this medium.
Vox’s motion of no confidence with Ramón Tamames as candidate, an initiative to overthrow the Government that was doomed to failure even before it was registered, is the most recent manifestation of this controversy over the usefulness of Congress in the daily life of Spain. For two days, the House went through a debate that was absolutely useless, legislatively speaking.
Political effects there were, without a doubt, but they point to the polls and the polls and electoral calculations, which are things that do not help people to arrive with 100 more euros at the end of the month or contribute to strengthening the rights of social minorities.
But for the majority of the deputies consulted, that, even noisy and controversial, was an exceptional and isolated procedure.
Villagrasa recalls those days of frequent dialogue with the farmers of his town to inform them of the progress of the CAP and, more specifically, of the amendment that protected the stubble burning. Rufián highlights how he strives, before each speech, to eliminate “the cumbersome& rdquor; and resort to a language that people understand. Giménez asks for just this: intelligible words. De Olano values the very important work of the deputies in the committees, since it facilitates specialization and even anticipation. And Tizón extols the “deep group listening work and to members of civil society who help to learn about the concerns and problems of the different sectors& rdquor;.
Working with people is essential to legislate. But this is not the starting point. The starting point is living with people. live like people. Villagrasa says: “The condition of parliamentarian does not take away from you that of a citizen, that of a militant, that of an activist, that of a neighbor, that of a mother. I buy bread at the usual store and have dinner with my usual friends.”
Like Rufián, who continues to move around his neighborhood as a kid and continues to meet friends from before he was a guy who only needs a few minutes for his tweets to add up to 1,000 likes.
Not forgetting where we come from is essential to know where we are going, or it usually is. This, for the deputies, is of the utmost importance because, after all, they are the ones who make the laws that shape us as a society.