I’m at about 10,000 meters above the sea, in an airplane that is flying to a speed of one thousand kilometers per hour. Only a thin window that seems extremely fragile separates me from extreme temperatures of about -50 degrees. It’s not exactly fear what I feel, but something much more intense: I have the certainty that this will be my end. I’m sure that something will happen and my body will collapse in a fraction of a second, and I would finally uncover the great mystery of life after death. As you can see, it's impossible for me to sleep in an airplane, and during this 8-hour flight from Atlanta to Lima, I’ve been asking myself: Why is Peru’s political system so messed up? Why isn’t anyone doing something about it? Juan Manuel, Cristobal de Losada and I, discussed this topic through most of the flight and we tried to draw meaningful conclusions upon it.
Our relationship with politics is based in two unbreakable pillars: a feeling of permanent dissatisfaction and a chronic state of collective resignation. Like those couples that have been living with each others during many unhappy years, but are still there, together, we are still here, condemned to bear with our reckless government. In relationships like these, a cynical and sad point, in which nothing seems able to even cause a shrug, is reached. Perhaps we are at this point. Maybe we are even a little further… who knows…
Parliamentarians from a political group used public money to travel to a partisan event and they assume that since they returned the money, we should be all grateful and in accordance with the Ethics Committee of Congress, which said that what happen is no big deal. The solution proposed by an official representative, and the own party of travelers, is to suspend the delivery of flight tickets. As if the problem was the availability of the tickets and not the selfishness of these lawmakers who only care for their personal benefits.
In this context, in which, additionally, two former presidents and potential candidates have pending criminal investigations, we should ask ourselves if there is still something left –beyond specific issues such as the Youth Employment System or the debate on the Civil Union- that could move our resignation to weariness or our indifference to outrage. Is there something worth to keep waiting? Can we expect that a reform of electoral rules, as the elimination of preferential voting, may contribute to an effective improvement on Peru’s political activity? I think it is worth waiting. By removing the mandatory voting, Peru will, without a doubt, grow exponentially. In that way the quality of the electoral process’s participants would improve because their vote would be informed. Lets make the political parties face the challenge of moving us to vote, and lets assume, for once and for all, the cost of our inaction and the (ir)responsibility of our decisions.
Our relationship with politics is based in two unbreakable pillars: a feeling of permanent dissatisfaction and a chronic state of collective resignation. Like those couples that have been living with each others during many unhappy years, but are still there, together, we are still here, condemned to bear with our reckless government. In relationships like these, a cynical and sad point, in which nothing seems able to even cause a shrug, is reached. Perhaps we are at this point. Maybe we are even a little further… who knows…
Parliamentarians from a political group used public money to travel to a partisan event and they assume that since they returned the money, we should be all grateful and in accordance with the Ethics Committee of Congress, which said that what happen is no big deal. The solution proposed by an official representative, and the own party of travelers, is to suspend the delivery of flight tickets. As if the problem was the availability of the tickets and not the selfishness of these lawmakers who only care for their personal benefits.
In this context, in which, additionally, two former presidents and potential candidates have pending criminal investigations, we should ask ourselves if there is still something left –beyond specific issues such as the Youth Employment System or the debate on the Civil Union- that could move our resignation to weariness or our indifference to outrage. Is there something worth to keep waiting? Can we expect that a reform of electoral rules, as the elimination of preferential voting, may contribute to an effective improvement on Peru’s political activity? I think it is worth waiting. By removing the mandatory voting, Peru will, without a doubt, grow exponentially. In that way the quality of the electoral process’s participants would improve because their vote would be informed. Lets make the political parties face the challenge of moving us to vote, and lets assume, for once and for all, the cost of our inaction and the (ir)responsibility of our decisions.