In the phase of the transitional government, which began a few days ago, those elected to power have the difficult but indispensable task of finding and implementing solutions to the multiple crises we are experiencing, which have several aspects although their roots are the same: an ethical crisis and a political crisis , in which the word democracy often appears, which many claim to defend.

The government is defining changes in the police command, and Minister Mónica Palencia recognizes the risk she would face due to this decision

It would be good to use this phase to reflect on whether we are really a democratic country, as defined in the first article of the Constitution. The doubt may seem misplaced, since we are occasionally called upon to exercise our right to vote to elect our rulers, sometimes there is a popular consultation, there are government agencies whose mission is to work so that citizens can exercise their right to vote … basic services and there are constituencies , almost companies, which call themselves political parties and are classified as left or right.

Tax reform

But is it just democracy? In one way or another, the definitions of democracy always refer to the etymological origin of the word, according to which it is the rule of the people, and Abraham Lincoln added “by the people and for the people”. It can be argued that the people are called to elect their rulers, and they are, but they do so out of a technically induced illusion that the candidate will fulfill what they offer, being careful not to specify, they are peddlers of illusions. And this is repeated, again and again, no matter what political ideology they advocate, and the citizens lose hope. Voting becomes a condition that must be fulfilled because it is mandatory, political apathy takes hold, it doesn’t matter anymore whether the candidates are left or right, for most the results are almost the same, and if you have to vote, many do it for the one they like the least. Elections are not conducted by informed voting, but they are what legitimize democracy.

The Economic Development Commission will process Daniel Noboa’s emergency bill

In this democratic country, “of the people, by the people and for the people”, the institutions that are the visible face of the government are gradually decaying, not only the Executive Power, but the trust in the Assembly, in the Judicial function, in the control bodies has been lost. It seems that the more we talk about democracy, the more we do to destroy it. At this moment, I remembered a few lines from an article by Javier Cercas, in his book No Silence, when he says, speaking of the ideologies that lead to authoritarianism, that they believe that democracy “is much more effective to defend it in theory and attack it in reality.” practice, undermining it from the inside, destroying its institutions and its mechanisms”, and adds that “in democracy form is the essence and that it is enough to destroy the forms of democracy in order to destroy democracy”.

President Daniel Noboa spoke in Guayaquil with national and international organizations

As a civil society, we could use the transition to ask ourselves together what we mean by democracy and whether, as we now apply it, we can continue to say and listen to it being said that it is the rule of the people. Maybe the future depends on that answer. (OR)