It was New York governor Mario Cuomo who once said that “You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose.” In Europe we have ample examples of the veracity of this saying. In a world obsessed with public relations and communications it has become very difficult for ordinary people to sift mere sound bites from real commitments made by their political leaders.
Style of communications has indeed become substance in today’s political democracy- John Cassar White
At the moment it is raining heavily in Spain. Yet, this time last year the conservative leader Mariano Rajoy was promising a spring of hope to the Spanish electorate after years of socialist rule. Rajoy promised his economic strategy would be based on “reducing taxes” that had become unbearable under Socialist rule. On being elected he claimed he had not realised the economic situation of his country was as bad as it actually was.
Following the EU bailout deal that was conditional to tough austerity measures including tax increases, Rajoy said: “For me it was a hard and painful decision, and we didn’t want to take it. But it was absolutely essential to stop the spiral into which we could fall.”
This is just one U-turn that is bound to be followed by others especially as past reassurances about the stability of Spanish banks that politicians, rating agencies and regulators gave way back in 2008 are proving to be hollow as the property bubble has burst with a bigger bang than anticipated.
In France, the newly elected president Francois Hollande has already made his first U-turn that is unlikely to be his last. In his election campaign he had promised to tax second homes especially those owned by expatriates, mainly British who are reported to own 200,000 holiday homes in France. But when Hollande met the British Prime Minister in London recently he seemed to retract this commitment so that second homes will now not be taxed any more than they already are.
Of the relatively new elected European leaders the British Prime Minister David Cameron may well deserve the prize for making the most U-turns during his term.
In an interview with journalist Jeremy Paxman just before the last election Cameron said: “We have absolutely no plans to raise VAT. Our first Budget is all about recognising we need to get spending under control rather than put up taxes.”
When in government, the coalition raised VAT from 17.5 per cent to an all-time high of 20 per cent.
Another amazing example of campaigning poetry that was demolished by government prose relates to the UK child benefit cuts. At a pre-election event, Cameron issued a ‘read my lips’ pledge. “I am not going to flannel you. I’m going to give it to you straight. I like the child benefit, I wouldn’t change child benefit. I wouldn’t means-test it, I don’t thing that is a good idea.” The coalition went on to abolish child benefit for higher earners.
U-turns made by politicians are not necessarily damaging. In the words of Tony Blair “to listen and to learn” shows a willingness to be flexible and sensitive to public opinion. But when such U-turns become all too frequent one cannot help wonder whether a government has indeed a coherent plan.
Electoral manifestos may be written in political poetry, although they are an important information tool in a modern democracy. But one must also realise that governing is about pragmatism and the ability to be creative in an ever-changing economic climate. So electoral promises are just a declaration of intent that voters can accept or reject on the strength of the credibility of whoever makes them.
The judgment of electors is often made more difficult by some biased sections of the media which rather than inform their audience, resort to pseudo-technical analysis of these promises with the hope of nipping them in the bud. Pragmatic political leaders understandably resort to being economical in the detail they give on their promises. Style of communications has indeed become substance in today’s political democracy.
There are instances, however, where one expects plain and simple communication stripped of all niceties and poetry, particularly communications by political and institutional leaders on the economic prospects of a particular country or region, e.g. the eurozone.
Too often, these leaders use euphemisms to describe the economic situation of a particular country or region. This makes one wonder whether to read these messages as examples of political poetry or prose.
johncassarwhite@yahoo.com