If President Nobo had presented the questions for public consultation before the end of the year, as he announced, it would have sounded like nonsense. The cheeky content of the question would lead us to assume that, in order to alleviate the discomfort of the majority of the population with the country’s problems, he resorted to the tradition of a typical joke that marks April 1st. However, after spreading the content in the first days of the year and above all the assurance that all questions are unnecessary and ineffective, we only have to turn to the second connotation of the term innocent, which is poorly thought out. the action of a naive and inexperienced person.

Shy proposals

The consultations are unnecessary and ineffective because, if approved, none of the issues will cause the immediate changes, much less the fundamental transformations, that are needed to solve the economic and insecurity problems. All of them must pass through the Assembly in order to become laws or introduce reforms in various current regulations. This legislative process will last no less than 6-8 months, and to that should be added those necessary for the procedure at the Constitutional Court, the invitation of the HNS, the campaign, control and resolution of challenges. To all this, we should add the possibility – very likely – that the products that come out of the Assembly are usually garbage that comes from the small sheep minds that prevail there.

Obviously, it can also be assumed that the aim of the consultation is not in the content of the issue, but that it is intended as a means of consolidating political support. Previous presidents have done this before, and now it’s clearer because, as president-elect, he has announced his decision to run for re-election. However, due to the above-mentioned deadlines, this is also a naive and futile illusion.

End of the year

This Government, as well as many previous ones, did not understand that national consultation is a form of direct democracy that has two clearly different forms. One is a plebiscite, in which citizens’ opinions on certain issues are discussed without establishing rules and procedures for their implementation. The second is a referendum, which puts explicit texts to be considered by citizens that will become laws or that will reform some existing ones, even in the scope of constitutional reform. This is what leaders must apply when they need the approval of citizens to make immediate decisions, either because they are important or because they go beyond the prerogatives of their position. The current consultation is not a referendum, which would be appropriate to deal with the very serious problems affecting the country. It is a plebiscite which is a research that is not applied to a sample but to the entire population.

The government still has time to put aside this very expensive research. If he stands by the decision to call for a consultation, he should replace it with a referendum where he would consider substantial reforms, which must be implemented immediately, and not make-up like the ones he proposed (which seem to have been made by a person who is an expert in cosmetics) . The country is not for fools. (OR)