Members of the British Parliament are anxious about the likely cut of up to 25% in their pay, if the recommendations of the Commission on Standards in Public Life, chaired by Sir Christopher Kelly, are implemented. Something had to be done in view of the widespread corruption and scandals that have occupied public opinion in recent months.
The B of this case is that both Prime Minister Brown and the leader of the civil service examination, Cameron, announced at the height of the discussion over the abusive collection of allowances that they would accept Sir Christopher's recommendations without discussion and without modification.
Can you imagine if the government and civil service examination of our country were to agreement to leave it in the hands of an impartial third party to adopt those anti-corruption measures that we all urgently demand?

Change of country: "Schäuble keeps Asmussen", headlined the German press when reporting on the inauguration of the new government formed by Christian Democrats, Christian Socialists and Liberals. Schäuble, a Christian Democrat, is the new Finance Minister, and Asmussen, a Socialist, was and will remain State Secretary, i.e. issue two in the ministry. Asmussen was the manager of the financial markets and international affairs, and in view of the economic status Schäuble has prioritized the continuity of the management over partisanship. This continuity has made the news, especially because it has displeased the liberals, but it is by no means an exception: in Germany, the administration, including senior officials, is considered to be outside the party struggle and everyone understands that its management is more technical than political. Can you imagine a change of government in our country, at any level - national, regional or municipal - that is not accompanied by the complete replacement of all the senior officials of the corresponding administration?

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl is back in the news. Like so many other prominent politicians, he has taken advantage of the tranquility of retirement to write his memoirs, and one anecdote that came to light in this way was the good relationship, which became a true friendship, that he maintained during his years at the head of the government with his predecessor Willy Brandt. A Christian Democrat seeking the committee of a Socialist because the good of the country is above party acronyms. Can you imagine Zapatero seeking the committee of Aznar, or the latter doing the same with Gonzalez?

Our democracy seems to be already fully consolidated, once the double peaceful changeover of the head of government that the experts establish as a criterion has been consummated, but we still have a long way to go to reach full maturity. Democracy is much more than holding free elections at regular intervals. Voting seems to be the best procedure to regulate access to power, as the market is for access to goods and services, but in the absence of certain absolute, non-negotiable ethical values, it is impossible for the procedure to function without becoming corrupt. Politicians in these European countries are not made of better dough than ours, and we see them fail, sometimes massively, as in the case of British parliamentarians, but they have assumed that he who does it, pays it, and it is taken for granted that they will resign as soon as they are caught red-handed. Here at entrance almost nobody resigns, and the parties rather close ranks around the imputed politicians. Only when public pressure becomes irresistible do they dare to dismiss them, only to reward them again with juicy perks as soon as the scandal has died down. The peaceful transition to democracy was a feat of which we can be legitimately proud, but the merit belonged to our elders and the "democratic gene" has not yet been discovered to ensure the proper functioning of this political regime forever. And it is known that it is much easier to get there than to stay there. It would be a tragic mistake to suppose that "this" works by itself and that we can abdicate our civic responsibility to leave public affairs in the hands of politicians.