Esteban Bullrich
08/03/2021 19:01
Clarín.com
Opinion
Updated 08/03/2021 19:01
It seems obvious, but it must be clarified because you want to transform that obviousness into an argument: the President has total
freedom to do whatever he pleases with his private life.
In that sense, the same laws apply to him as any of us, and that same criterion applies to the people who went to visit him: no one questions or judges the way in which they decide to live their lives.
But what the President decides to do with his private life at Quinta de Olivos
is of another nature
.
In the first place, the operation of the Residence is managed with public funds, that is, with the
money of all Argentines
.
Hence, a forceful clarification is necessary, with irrefutable evidence, that what
happened there is not in contradiction with public ethics
or with the norms to which the president submitted when he was sworn in.
Second, it doesn't take Sherlock Holmes's intuition to figure out that explaining as a coincidence the entry of numerous people late at night on the birthday of the President and the first lady, and passing them off as working meetings, as the Chief of Cabinet publicly slipped, is to
underestimate all Argentines.
But suppose that, against all odds, this is true: only the President and his team are capable of demonstrating that they were working meetings, not the opposition, nor the media. It is up to him, the President, to have an
act of greatness that helps to clarify
what, otherwise, cannot be more than another scandal, one more.
And why is it a scandal? Because at the same time that all these people entered to celebrate ─ and until there is conclusive evidence that this has not been the case, that will be what they went to do─ millions of Argentines remained confined in their homes, respecting the provisions of the president and putting their livelihoods and that of their families at risk; many others were unable to say goodbye to a loved one, as they watched their children become depressed or anxious.
The scale of the scandal becomes real and palpable when one reads what Télam reported on April 2, 2020, Alberto Fernández's birthday:
“The president turns 61 and will celebrate it accompanied by the first lady Fabiola Yáñez, his son Estanislao and his dog Dylan at the Olivos Residence, from where he directs the actions against the coronavirus ”
.
Pure cynicism:
while you were playing Zoom, Olivos was a party.
These episodes put the leadership in the face of a problem that is hidden by the daily life and the whirlwind of politics: along with a formidable economic reconstruction, a true moral reconstruction will be needed when this government ends its mandate.
The leadership must prepare to build, today more than ever, an alternative that restores confidence damaged by scandals, ranging from vip vaccinations and quarantine parties, through denying the entry of Argentines to their country or confinement camps. that exist, still today, in Formosa.
Examples, unfortunately, are unnecessary.
After these elections, which I am sure will be very positive for the country, the leadership must begin without delay to work on an agenda that
puts the axis in this moral reconstruction
, perhaps as difficult, or more, than all the challenges to come.
If we don't do this now, it is likely that in 2023 we will have to first convince voters that democracy is worth betting on, before having to convince them to bet on us.
(*) Esteban Bullrich is a PRO national senator for the Province of Buenos Aires.
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