Phantom Coordination: When the Left Hand Doesn’t Know What the Right Hand is Doing (nor is it Interested)
In a turn that no one saw coming (a lie, we all saw it coming), Morena’s coordinator in the Chamber of Deputies, Ricardo Monreal, has come out to cool the workers’ spirits with the delicacy of a sledgehammer. With the elegance that characterizes him, he has declared that the reform to reduce the working day from 48 to 40 hours per week is not part of the current legislative agenda. Of course, this is not a breach, it’s just a… redefinition of priorities. Very typical of the new politics.
With the serenity of an official who knows that his salary does not depend on these minutiae, Monreal blurted out: “It has not been a reason for the legislative agenda.” Take it now! And then add, as if consoling a child whose birthday party has just been cancelled, that there is a “commitment” from the president. Of course, a commitment so vague and ethereal that it seems more like a wish made to a shooting star than a government promise. “Before the end of his term” leaves such a wide margin of maneuver that they could include the construction of a space shuttle.
The Broken Telephone: The Jewel of the Morenista Crown
The really fun thing, the cake with ironic cherry on top, is the spectacular internal contradiction. It turns out that the vice coordinator, Alfonso Ramírez Cuéllar, stated with all the pomp and confidence in the world, just a few days ago, that the reform “comes out in this period”. Not only that, but he had even gone to the trouble of having national agreements and conversations with business groups, planning until 2030. A level of detail that, apparently, Monreal is completely unaware of. Don’t they have coordination meetings? Do they communicate by smoke signals? Or was the message lost in the WhatsApp group?
Monreal’s response to this uncomfortable discrepancy was a masterclass in the art of passing the buck and avoiding responsibilities. “I don’t have the elements to express a firm opinion,” he confessed, in what could be the unofficial motto of the legislature. And he finished with a pearl of bureaucratic humility: “surely he has more elements”. Translation: “He made it up or they don’t invite me to important meetings.”
And as a Gift: The Salary Reform that Disappeared in the Black Hole of the Senate
As if the 40-hour farce were not enough, the Morenista leader also referred to another gem of the administration: the constitutional reform to increase the salaries of doctors, police, soldiers and teachers. Approved unanimously (how nice it sounds!) a year ago, the reform has suffered the mysterious disappearance that usually affects socks in the washing machine, but at a constitutional level.
The explanation? A masterful lesson in passing the blame. According to Monreal, the ball is no longer in his court. It is “responsibility of the Senate”. We, the deputies, did our part wonderfully, we approved everything very happy and now the problem is theirs. Why is it not published in the Official Gazette? Ask the Senate. That there is an obstruction to the procedure? Your problem. We have already washed our hands like Pontius Pilate on a busy day.
To add more fuel to the fire of absurdity, the PRI coordinator, Rubén Moreira, has had to come out to denounce this unjustified omission. That is, the opposition has to remind the party in power to comply with the laws that it itself approved. The irony is so thick you could cut it with a knife.
Meanwhile, the budgets for next year must contemplate these salary increases that, technically, do not yet exist on paper. An exercise in faith and creative accounting that would make any illusionist’s magician pale. Improvisation? Not at all! It’s just… flexible planning.
In short, we are facing a spectacle where promises disappear, responsibilities are diluted and government coordination seems a myth. Workers can continue dreaming about their 40 hours, while legislators demonstrate once again that their workday consists mainly of saying why things can’t be done.
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