Agreements of state

People within the Popular Party’s circle are proposing that Mariano Rajoy exercise his powers of leadership to seek accords and broaden support for reforms. The leader of the main opposition party, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, on Wednesday offered him dialogue during the parliamentary debate after upbraiding him about the labor reform and his unilateral decision to shave 10 billion euros off spending on education and health. The head of the government showed himself disposed to listen to the Socialist leader (revealing in passing that the two had met more often that had been acknowledged publicly), although he expressed skepticism, arguing that the Socialist Party (PSOE) — which has accused the PP of breaking the consensus on the issue — of not supporting the Budget Stability Law, and of holding back the agreement necessary to renew the composition of state institutions (in allusion to the Constitutional Court and the broadcaster RTVE). The PSOE threw the accusation back in the PP’s court.

We already know that there are a lot of issues pending between the two main parties. But now is not the time for internal disputes, nor for either of them to entrench themselves in their version of events. Times require that the bull be seized by the horns in order to broaden the consensus.

One of the main tasks that lies ahead is for Spain to fulfill its obligations toward Europe. They need to tell us how they plan to avoid putting their foot in it regarding the EU and how the main institution in the euro zone, the ECB, can help fend off the wanton attacks of the markets in other than an ad-hoc fashion. In addition, the bonds that bind the leaders of countries that share the same currency have to re-established. Rajoy on Wednesday called for prudence, without specifically naming leaders such as Mario Monti and Nicolas Sarkozy, who have failed to show the required solidarity in the past few weeks. Adherence to the common cause by Spain would make compliance with such conduct more compelling and discourage the repetition of putdowns on the part of European leaders, who, by any reckoning, have been unnerved by domestic difficulties.

Agreements are equally necessary to guarantee that the welfare state is maintained at reasonable levels. It is inconceivable that savings of 27 billion euros in the state budget and another 10 billion in health and education can be approved simply with mechanical voting afforded by the PP’s absolute majority in parliament. The restructuring of the financial system, which continues to be a source of too many concerns, needs to be speeded up, while the pace at which the deficit is reduced should not wipe out the possibility of creating jobs and economic growth.

Rajoy told lawmakers in his party on Wednesday that the reforms are continuing apace, although they won’t bear fruit in the short term, adding the obvious point that the PP has a mandate of four years. The question is whether the country is willing to take all of this on blind faith. You can’t disappear from the public stage as the prime minister, who also happens to be the coordinator of government economic policy, has done for two weeks, a period marked by a series of upheavals. At a time when a joint effort in major areas is called for, skirting the madding crowd is not the way to inspire confidence. You can hardly demand solidarity and consensus abroad if you don’t you show it at home.