After every election or almost, promises are made by all parties involved: the side which has done badly will assert it has taken on board the reprimand delivered by the result and will strive to improve and correct matters; and the side which believes it has done well stresses that it will seek to further strengthen its operations.
Quite frequently then, promises made remain sidelined. As soon as memories of the warning or the endorsement gotten by a party fade, one sees it revert to the customs and operating methods it was familiar with prior to the election. At times, unexpectedly, overwhelming circumstances develop to erase all memory of what happened prior to their emergence.
The fact is that it is not easy for any organisation to change its direction or indeed to accelerate its working rhythms. This will create resentment among people who consider that corrective action is actually an effort to undermine their position. In another context, there will be those who believe that if the going has been good, it makes little sense to force the pace – since if one rushes too fast, one might slip.
And nothing changes.
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THE TRUTH
In politics one and all insist that they stand for the truth. (To be sure, the same thing happens on an individual and collective basis in other areas of human activity.) But in truth – what is truth?... which is not being asked only by way of repeating Pontius Pilate’s query.
For in politics, it is the game of contrasting interests among people which is the key factor. What makes sense for one sector will probably strain another one. Both will examine what is going on and evaluate it with a different measure in order to arrive at their separate truth. And if those playing the political game insist that what is being done should be of benefit to all sectors, they will still diverge as to who will be benefitting most.
In this regard, the title that Pirandello gave to one of his plays applies: Cosi e se vi pare – So it is if you think so!
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DO WE NEED PARTIES?
I continue to believe that in a parliamentary democracy (and indeed also a presidential one) political parties are essential to bring together people sharing the same beliefs and opinions, to get them to agree on a programme by which the country could be run and to work together to obtain the support of a majority of the citizens.
As is the case for all other institutions, parties pass through periods of expansion and of decline. More importantly, they will pass through times when they need to change or undergo renewal. How this is to be done entails a very delicate process. If it is carried out without a plan and without paying attention to what the effects could be on party members and the general public, this will generate only problems. The same applies if it is done simply with the intention of weeding out certain older or newer members.
In a dictatorship, there is no problem with the party and party officials remaining unchanged... till everything collapses. In a democracy, a political party which fails to renew, will just shrivel.