The problem is that PP thinks that their best idea is to be a rock, indiferent to outside influences, a kind of mafia where whatever is threatened is protected by the party. And this negates any kind of intelligent reaction they could have with these scandals, because, let's suppose that some of these are false allegations. Why did it take so much time for Rajoy to appear? Why doesn't he face the journalists? Why does he protect unbelievable attitudes like Ana Mato being ignorant of the huge ammount of money she handled? I try to get opinions from international press of what is happening in Spain, and what I think is that they cannot understand it. Or that they can't believe that there is corruption and no intention to stop it.
Today most of the national newspapers have articles about how corruption is broadly accepted in this country, as it was part of what we were, part of our education, or worse, part of a victimism: "we steal money because it's so difficult to earn it legally". Or because it is impossible to survive legally. Seriously: I can't relate to that, and I know many spaniards don't either. This classic excuse of "everyone does it so why can't we" has been a placard carried by most politics discussions since Democracy sat down in Spain (somewhat). Journalists, then, write about how spaniards voters accept corruption and even encourage it every time one of this accusations arise, which is unfair and not very true.
What happens with spanish politics is that it's not that important that your ideas win, but that the other ideas loose. Ideas, or teams. A supporter of Real Madrid watches the Barcelona football matches positioning with the other team, and celebrating when Barça loses, and politics work exactly the same: whatever the Popular Party does, their voters can be angered at them, or dissapointed, but will do anything to keep any other party from accessing the Government. It's a variation of Roosevelt's " it's our bastard" that can be applied to voters from the two biggest political parties in this country: voters can be terribly dissapointed, or even harmed by their voted politics, but as the parties are closed, they vote a party to keep the other from coming, as after all, the voted party represent themselves. It's complicated, I know.
And it's difficult to put both parties, PP and PSOE, as having the same kind of voters, as the days when PSOE was unbeatable are forgotten... and it is very difficult to remember that the same kind of attitudes and arrogant replies were typical of PSOE back in the 90s, just the same kind. It's an absolute fear of leaving the power (one polititian said "power burns out, but not having it burns out even more") and suddenly facing change. There's nearly a religious simile with it, as if it "the other" would bring whatever will collapse the moral values you were taught. In the case of PP there is not even a simile, as there are very clear connections with the ecclesiastical high hierarchy, and in the case of the forgotten PSOE beliefs, there was the fear of a party that will get rid of pensions, health and public schools. Oh, the irony.
So now it's difficult to go back at the first elections when there were more than two main parties trying to get more votes. And it's difficult to get back to the times when voters didn't inmediately know that the political party they were voting wouldn't inmediately betray them and they had to live with that, as if that party was a spoiled son. As the candidate list for the parties are closed, politicians work for their party, rule for their party and hope that their voters vote them just because they are too afraid that the others will win. I remember one PP mayor where I lived that left the rich zones unnatended, so the roads deteriorated quickly and vegetation become more than annoying: he knew that, whatever he did, rich would still vote him. And they did.
That is what Rajoy hopes for, and that is why he just denies any accusation and, well, any proof. He knows that PP voters will still vote PP, as betrayed as they are, despite the warnings to vote any other party (in this case, UPyD, a small center-right wing party that is sloooowly gathering more votes with each election), and he believes that voters will see the party as a whole, though it is very cracked on the inside. However, no more cracked than PSOE, that will still keep its share of votes. The resulting situation is less people going to vote, but the same rotating results. And the problem with this situation is that non voters are beginning to doubt democracy, and want a revolution.
I'm a bit scared of the state of my country. It's like a very large network of corruption keeps political parties, religion, media and other companies together, both by beliefs and convenience (cousin of a Minister has a contract as a TV show moderator, brother-in-law of another Minister is in another electrical company...) and citizens can only watch it from very far and has nearly no influence. Whatever we do, even if we vote, there is no solution. This is when radical groups could appear, and that is what many of us are afraid of.
Let's hope that justice... no, to be honest, I don't have any hope, apart from "let's hope we can get out of this as unharmed as possible".
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