Nueva Canarias (NC) Lanzarote has been present and has intervened "actively" in the convention on transformative municipalism that the Canaristas have held this past Saturday, before some 200 leaders, island officials, municipal officials and candidates in the upcoming elections on May 28 from all the islands, in the Museum of Nature and Archeology (MUNA) of Santa Cruz de Tenerife as a stage.
The event, focused on the municipalist project of NC, characterized by its "capacity for change to improve the quality of life of citizens", has served as the starting gun in the campaign towards the next elections of 28-M, an appointment with the polls where, as highlighted by the national president, Román Rodríguez, "Nueva Canarias will be decisive to form the majorities that the Canary Islands needs to make possible a better country, with a future and to solve the pending problems".
Several representatives of NC Lanzarote attended the convention, including the candidate for Mayor of Arrecife, Armando Santana, and the candidate for Mayor of Tías, Arminda Barreto, who also claimed that transformative municipalism of progressive Canarianism based on democratic values, self-government, public services, social rights, sustainability and the unity of the Canary Islands.
In this way, the Lanzarote representation of NC emphasized the importance of the construction of the Canarian space on the island from the local level, its settlement and strength from the municipal level, from its assemblies and local committees. In the recent history of NC Lanzarote, the resistant Local Committee of Arrecife stands out without a doubt, "the gradual creation of the rest of the local assemblies, first in San Bartolomé, then Haría, Teguise, Tías, ... and the collaboration agreement with the Renovating Movement of Tinajo (MRT)". It is at that level precisely where the Canaristas, "with closeness and active listening to their own neighbors, develop that transformative municipalism that they aspire to implement after the elections of 28-M".
"Several organic and public positions of the Canaristas of the island did not miss the event and testified to those municipalist bases in NC Lanzarote", among them Yoné Caraballo, candidate for Lanzarote and La Graciosa to the Parliament of the Canary Islands; Marcos Lemes, candidate for Mayor of Haría; Fernando Jiménez, candidate for Mayor of Teguise; Pablo Yebra, candidate for Mayor of San Bartolomé; and Antonio Morales, candidate for Mayor of Tinajo with MRT-NC.
"Closeness"
Armando Santana stated that "closeness should not be an occurrence, but a way of being". The second deputy mayor and candidate for Mayor of the capital of Lanzarote defended the bases of NC's municipalism, with theses based on the values of democracy, cleanliness, transparency, the development of self-government, the defense of public services, social rights, the fight against poverty and in favor of sustainability and the unity of the Canary Islands. "We have to put into practice the concepts of good government, without failing those who move away from that decision-making but who trust us to do so. If we fail them, if we do not understand those concepts, we will never achieve that governments are that real picture of our town halls, councils and other institutions. That's why," Santana said, "I think we cannot demand closeness when the politician already occupies a position in the Government; the politician has to be close even before he has that responsibility".
For the NC candidate in Arrecife, "the ideal, the really honest thing, is that the people close to you, the ones who normally lead other projects such as associations, NGOs, volunteering, etcetera, are part of politics, since for them closeness is not an occurrence in time, but their way of being". "It should not be considered as something amazing that a public official attends to the neighbor and does what is expected of him to do by charging a salary that all citizens pay", he warned.
Santana assured that these days, "more than profiles", he is looking for in his electoral list "the most vivid reflection of the society in which I live, which in my case is Arrecife and, of course, the greatest virtue, closeness".
"Active listening"
For her part, the candidate for Mayor of Tías, Arminda Barreto, emphasized that "active listening is a priority" for Nueva Canarias. As an Education professional, Barreto argued that "some politicians, when they reach positions or positions of power stop listening actively, become inaccessible and dehumanize themselves. Those who go to the mayor, the mayoress or the councilor know that their problems will not always be solved, but they do want to feel heard. For the Canaristas of Tías, active listening is a priority; listening to them not only with our ears, but also with our mind and with our heart, just like treating those who approach us with respect, empathy, solidarity and kindness," she said.
In her opinion, "learning to listen is an important step for good government". "Only by listening in this way can we deserve and appreciate the trust that the citizens of our municipalities place in us. The ability to listen actively allows us to understand the problems of our municipality but also to value the possibilities from a more empathetic perspective and make decisions that move away from partisan and personal interests and focus on reality," said Arminda Barreto, who warned that in NC Tías "we are clear about our project and listening with the mind and heart will allow us to choose the right path".
