Former President of the Government Mariano Rajoy presented Tuesday in Segovia his book ‘The Art of Governing’, in which he looks back on episodes of his mandate, such as the increase in taxes that he had to face in the ten days after coming to power despite … promised during the campaign that he would lower them. “There are times when reality forces us to do things we don’t want to do: if we didn’t do it, our country would be bankrupt,” he defended.
In this sense, he emphasized that the decision to nationalize banks and increase taxes is something that a right-wing leader would not imagine, but he was forced to do it. reduce spending by 10 billion and thanks to this, “in three years, taxes were reduced again.”
During an event at the Juan Bravo Theater in Segovia, Rajoy was supported by the president of the PP of Castilla y León, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, as well as around 300 people from the public. During his presentation, he called for “dignified politics” and defended that a president must “realize when there are excesses.”
The former president described his book as something he invested in “reflections and experiences from 40 years of political life” and in which he includes the decalogue of the good leader, who must “not lie”.
Likewise, he stressed, as a former president and “retired”, that we must “realize when there are excesses and act accordingly”, one more rule of the decalogue of the good leader that he sets out in his work. “None of the conditions listed here for being a good leader are met by the person you are currently thinking of,” he added in this regard.
Likewise, Rajoy stressed that it was necessary “give dignity to politics, eliminate stigma and devote ourselves to the politics of things, instead of dealing with political issues.” For this, he asked to avoid those people “who do not allow themselves to govern, talk a lot and shout more”.
Regarding the book, he highlighted that it is structured in 17 chapters which review “fundamental issues such as democracy and the Constitution, and other important subjects: Parliament, the Crown, populism, the economy, foreign policy and new social issues that have emerged in recent years, such as social networks, the problem of immigration and digital technology”.
In this context, he defended democracy as “the best system of coexistence”, but warned of the danger of not defending it with a “good Parliament and respect for a Constitution which “compared to the four and a half years that the constitutions of the 19th century lasted on average, lasts more than 47 years and it seems that it could last longer”.
Coexistence with two kings
On the other hand, regarding the figure of the two kings with whom he lived, he highlighted the role of Juan Carlos I in the Transition and “the good work and common sense” of the current monarch, Felipe VI.
He also recalled the “Catalan referendum of 2017 poorly defined”when “hundreds of social media accounts from Venezuela and Russia were filled with opinions about Catalonia’s right to choose independence and launched insults based on anonymity.”
On the other hand, regarding immigration, he said that when his government left power, “there were around 700 illegal immigrants per year.” while “now there are 29,000”. “Things can therefore be done so that immigration is regulated and is not used as a weapon with incendiary ideas, typical of populism,” he added on this subject.
Finally, the former president concluded by advising young politicians, so that “they do not jump the ladder, that they manage to combine prudence and audacity and to read, listen and look”: “When you are going to decide, think before and decide after, instead of what we appreciate now, when you decide before and think after”.
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