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Editorials
These are the responsibility of the editor and convey the newspaper's view on current affairs-both domestic and international

Lower quality of democracy

Electoral changes in Castilla-La Mancha would render the system less representative and plural

María Dolores de Cospedal, the secretary general of the Popular Party (PP) and premier of the Castilla-La Mancha region, has obtained approval from Congress to begin the parliamentary passage of an electoral reform that has more than a whiff of political opportunism about it. Her proposal to reduce the number of seats in the regional parliament is being sold as an example of austerity and public spending cuts, when it may instead damage the very foundations of democracy in Castilla-La Mancha.

The reduction of the number of deputies, and a general simplification of the public institutions to make them more efficient, are both reasonable measures to bring down spending. Other regions, including Madrid and Valencia, have also contemplated the move. It is undeniable that Spain needs a profound reconsideration as to the existing number of elected representatives, which total 2,000 national and regional parliamentarians, and 68,000 municipal councilors. In any such reconsideration, however, we must keep an eye on the principle of representation that legitimizes every elective post. It is indispensable, then, that any modification be the object of broad consensus and scrupulous analysis. Skimping on spending at the very heart of the democratic system can lead to serious errors.

No reflection of this sort is to be found in the reform proposed by De Cospedal, who vehemently criticized her predecessor, José María Barreda, for adding two seats to the regional parliament — a move later endorsed by the Constitutional Court — and who proposed an increase in the number of seats, to the benefit of her party, no sooner than she took office as premier. Now, in a contradictory initiative, De Cospedal is suggesting their drastic reduction. To go from 53 seats to some number between 25 and 35, as seems to be the intention, will make the regional parliament in Toledo the smallest in Spain; and, above all, will excessively distort the result of the citizens’ vote, overly favoring the majority group — at the present, the PP — and reducing plurality, by closing off access to smaller parties with good chances of obtaining seats — principally United Left and UPyD as things stand.

According to official figures, the withdrawal of salaries from Castilla-La Mancha’s regional deputies has produced a saving of a million euros a year, and the new electoral reform would mean a further annual spending cut of 500,000 euros. This rather paltry saving, for an administration with a budget of eight billion euros a year, cannot justify a reform that may diminish the opposition’s effectiveness as a watchdog on the actions of the regional government: a change of the rules that only enjoys the support of the PP, both in Castilla-La Mancha and in the national parliament.

De Cospedal once accused Barreda of modifying the number of seats in benefit of the Socialist Party (PSOE). This supposed benefit, however, did not prevent the defeat of the PSOE in the 2011 elections. This leader and her party, then, ought to know that the new electoral distribution is likewise incapable of perpetuating her hold on power. Perhaps it may prolong it somewhat; but with the effect, however, of a diminished quality of democracy.

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