An important Editorial from El Diario:
Let’s talk about self-respect and of others
The President Evo Morales just stroke down the veto for the re-election of Rebeca Delgado in the Presidency of the Chamber of Deputies, as the attitudes of this Congresswoman to alleviate her distance from the official party line. Such event, have come to demonstrate that the validity of division and independence of the State bodies (powers) becomes doubtful. The situation of interference did not deserve the minimum effort of dissimulation.
For her part, the still President of Deputies fell into disgrace when she disagree with the Minister of Government on the draft law of Reversion of goods to the State and, followed by, her statement that inquiry on the network of extortion had only reached the “middle managers”. Before the dismay caused by the above statement at high levels of Government, began the path of claudication protesting not only her fidelity to the “process of change” and interpreter of the same, but – in a little decorous attitude of an authority of the legislature – requested an audience with the President of the State to explain her conduct and make a report of her term.
These facts may not be unnoticed, by means of an act of subjugation of the legislature to the Executive branch. While this phenomenon is not new, never was a Chamber President acting without respecting her high investiture and put in evidence such submission.
The President of Senate, Gabriela Montaño, is also not free of sin. In an interview in a television program, she praised that President Morales meet once a week with the base of his party (two-thirds of the Assembly), as no one had done it before, she said, no other President of the State. This and the previous case put it bluntly that these legislative authorities ignored that the independence of the organs is the cornerstone of democracy, along with others no less important, wearing an aggravating subservience to the society.
Undoubtedly, more serious than to disclose it, it is intervening in another body or power, although in the case of the base of a common force between the President and a sector of caucusgoers. From the moment of his election, senators and deputies acquire the quality of national representatives and cannot and must not undergo powers, influences, or strange inductions. Neither the Executive respects the legislative branch, nor this latter demands respect.
Not in vain just to light the “democratic centralism”, an alleged system that does not support “freethinkers”, so that the intra-party policies and even State depend on property from a single command that, for now, is none other than the President himself. In good and small accounts, it is not anything other than autocracy, i.e. the concentration in a single person on all public authorities. Said in other words, a totalitarian system with a democratic label.
Opposition Assembly members extol and praise their colleague Rebecca Delgado, by what they call a dignified stance and own thought. Although they are not convinced at all by the aforementioned statements, they do so believing serve its opposition role. It is not the only case, but they incur in error to pondering what “is not so”. The Member in question had bursts of value, reviewing them soon for the sake of her repentance. If she saw some bad measures of the Government should have kept it with fortitude. That would have been a praiseworthy conduct. Those who seem to be politicians, above all should be well with their conscience and with society.
Over the last seven years, there were many occasions when we perceived a totalitarian system with a democratic label. No wonder over Bs100K are spent daily on presidential “live” propaganda… and he even dares to justify it on the grounds that people should be entertained… a totalitarian Caesar portrayed himself as a naive indigenous individual?
Bolivian Thoughts 