"Take your first step now. You don't have to see the whole path. Just take the first step. The rest will appear as you walk." Martin Luther King.
When we entered the Parliament of the Canary Islands, 3 years ago, we were aware that one of our priorities should be to change the perverse electoral system that our land has.
Work to have a fairer, more supportive and more democratic system.
One that better represents the will of the Canarian people at the polls.
A system that does not allow someone with 5,000 votes to hijack the decisions that are made in this Parliament, while a political force supported by 50,000 votes from citizens is left out of the Chamber.
A system in which some votes are not worth 17 times more than others.
People demanded it from us.
We saw it in the streets, in the numerous mobilizations that took place three years ago. Especially on the islands of Gran Canaria and Tenerife.
We took up the gauntlet, following the mandate of the citizens. We have fought it in the institutions, in the media and in the street.
We started the Legislature by opening a commission on the reform of the electoral system.
We knew it was a necessity, which is why the Commission went ahead with the majority support of all groups (except for the abstention of the Gomera Socialist Group, the party that greatly benefited from this system in the past elections).
All parliamentary formations started from very different, conflicting positions, and very far from each other.
Despite this, we have all worked during these three years for that reform, aware of the political responsibility we carried on our shoulders.
It is evident that Podemos had the highest aspirations, with a very clear goal: one person, one vote. A commitment that we did not give up, nor will we give up, at any time.
But from day one, and for anyone who knows how to add, it was obvious that with the current fragmentation of the Parliament of the Canary Islands we all had to give in to ensure that in 2019 we had a fairer electoral system. The accounts were clear.
We would love for Podemos to have a sufficient majority that would allow us to carry out our initial proposal: 2 deputies/as per island in an island constituency, and the rest elected on a regional list.
We would also have loved for the reform of the electoral system to have been done in the Canary Islands, through the development of a Canarian electoral law. But 40 votes out of 60 were needed to be able to promote it.
The accounts are clear.
Thanks to the opening of the Commission on the reform of the electoral system, we were able to listen to the parties that had been affected by the system, to organized civil society (special mention and our gratitude to the civil gold of Democrats for Change) and we also listened to many experts, with diverse points of view and ideologies.
All these voices that visited the Commission agreed in their conclusions: we must move towards more democracy in our land. The current system does not work.
After that phase, and knowing that if we remained in immobilist positions there would be no reform, we opened a presentation to seek agreements and consensus that would allow meeting points between the different political forces.
The first objective was for it to have the unanimous support of the groups present in the Parliament of the Canary Islands, and that it would not be necessary to go to the Congress of Deputies in Madrid.
That's what we wanted: for it to be decided in our land.
However, there were those who flatly refused to seek consensus, and now they should not complain if we avoid their obstacles in the Congress of Deputies. The same ones who did not mind using them when they raised the electoral barriers in Madrid more than a decade ago.
There is no other. Either consensus, or nothing. And whoever refuses to accept consensus, may be unable to do politics.
Our group joined the agreement after conducting a consultation in which more than 2000 people participated (the first of its kind to be done in all of the Canary Islands), also our internal bodies, Coordination Council and Autonomous Council, expressed their support for reaching consensus.
Unfortunately, the reform in the Canary Islands has not been possible, because we have encountered a harsh reality: two of the groups refuse the reform that we propose in the opinion. Canarian Coalition and Gomera Socialist Group say no. Coincidentally, the two parties most favored by the current electoral system.
We have agreed on a reform that involves lowering the barriers and increasing 10 deputies (possibility contemplated in the current Statute of Autonomy), elected on a regional list.
We know that this may be an unpopular measure and that is why it is accompanied by a mandate: that it does not involve any extra cost for the citizens.
Using as an excuse that this reform is rejected because it makes our democracy more expensive is a spurious, false and demagogic argument. The final opinion ensures that the reform will not entail a higher cost for the Parliament's coffers. So this is an excuse typical of those who want nothing to change.
And that increase in deputies/as without cost would be achieved in four ways:
1.- Reformulating the allocations we receive in concept of allowances and/or assistance, as well as the complements derived from the position (for presiding over a Commission, being a Spokesperson or President, members of the table, etc.)
2.- Lowering the allocations received by the Parliamentary Groups.
3.- Reducing the number of deputies/as who attend the commissions, and the transport involved (in addition to the allowances they receive).
4.- Use new videoconferencing technologies for attendance at meetings, as is done in other parliaments in Spain or even in the Bureau and Board of Spokespersons.
Look, if we enter the game that democracy is expensive, tell me those who think so how many deputies/as do you think are necessary: 40, 20, 10?
Because by that rule of three, let's make a dictatorship where only one person rules, which would be cheaper than having a Parliament with deputies.
Maybe there are those who would be more comfortable with that system.
The future of the Canary Islands is at stake on this board. To get out of the caciquismo that some have used in their own favor, to build a more structured Archipelago. For that we need an electoral system that better represents the Canarians.
With the closure of this commission, and the veto we have encountered, one thing is demonstrated again: Canarian Coalition is a problem for the democracy of this country and the democracy of this land.
When a party puts its interests, and its vocation to remain in power, above the interests of the citizens: that party is a serious problem. And that happens with Canarian Coalition.
Despite these efforts to reach consensus in the Canary Islands, the reform of the electoral system will be decided in Madrid, within the reform of the Statute of Autonomy.
There, I am sure that our deputies of Podemos will fight again for a more ambitious reform, and that they will work to achieve consensus that will achieve at least something: that we do not stay in nothing.
Let's face reality. If we don't change something this year, we're never going to change anything. It is impossible to change the electoral system, as many democrats would like, if we do not take a first step, which although it seems insufficient is already something.
Either this, or nothing.
And I, excuse me for saying, but in the side of nothing, the side of those who want nothing to change, where Canarian Coalition and Mr. Curbelo are, do not count on me.
By Noemí Santana Perera, General Secretary and parliamentary spokesperson of Podemos Canarias