We need Mujica in Moldova

Elena Moldoveanu
01/12/2015
Foto: theguardian.com

We found ourselves in a world of very corrupt and compromised politicians. Economic and political crisis affect each of us, but less the politicians and their friends. They have their companies (they do not pay taxes for the majority of their companies), they have big houses worth tens and even hundreds of thousands of euros (what money did they use to buy or build?!), some of them own houses in other countries (real refuges in case ...) they have luxury cars, access to private clinics if they get sick (although most of them feel that nothing can affect them, even disease, no death!).

All these make us conclude that these people (do they still consider themselves common people?) live in a parallel universe, a world free of dangers and necessities, a colorful world. However (although it seems unreal, and they think that they have forgotten) these people were born, lived and live in our country. Moreover, they are appointed to care for the well-development of things, the safety and health of citizens.

The question is how did they become so insensitive to poverty and suffering, how they can act so irresponsibly? How can they sleep at night?  We find the answer if we look back in the past. After 1991, a number of opportunistic people came to power; they created games of interests binding them in a complicated and obscure environment.

I look with admiration, but also with much pain to my country, to the great progress made by some former communist countries like Poland, Hungary, Romania, to progress made by even some former Soviet republics such as Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia. They could and we couldn’t? What do we need to progress? The discussion deserves careful consideration of all categories of citizens, a real and responsible debate by society.

In our country, politicians are the only category of people who are not responsible for their actions.  In any workplace, you are fired if you do not fulfill your duties.  Politicians can do bad things, they can get properties in a short period of time and nobody and nothing can bring them to account. It is unfair and even absurd.  The justice must assume a serious role to change these things.  It is very important that the politicians are responsible for their actions, pay for the damage or to be confiscated their property as it happens in Romania.

Reading the daily news of the world, the perception is that politicians are corrupt and irresponsible everywhere. I do not think so because there are countries where people have a decent life, where democracy functions as in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Canada, and Australia ...these are just some of them.  Certainly, the humankind tries to spread corruption everywhere, desire of huge incomes. In these countries, there are institutions that react to these problems very fast, there is a public opinion that reacts promptly and efficiently, there are even politicians who are embarrassed by protests and discontent of people and they resign. Some politicians in other countries, of shame and common sense of people, live life like ordinary people.

I will give the example of the President of Uruguay, José Mujica. Yesterday, the social networks revealed an article about Mujica, who gathered much feedback, and many of us have thought "Why don’t we have such a head of state or prime minister, or president of Parliament, or party leader? ".

José Mujica lives in a tiny house, which is unusual for a president of a country. He says “I still live today as I did 40 years ago, in the same neighborhood, with the same people and the same things. You don’t stop being a common man just because you are president”. So much humility, wisdom, kindness! What a wonderful example for our politicians, for the younger generation obsessed with consumption in general. We need politicians like Mujica in our country, we need skilled and responsible people, and we need a mechanism to make politicians responsible for their actions.

Hope dies last!

Elena Moldoveanu
2015-12-01 08:58:00

Comments