Staff Reporter
EDMUND Burke said that ‘all that is needed for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing’.
You know that I have been an avid critic of the current Mijas Tripartite Government, headed by Juan Carlos Maldonado, who came third in the elections and got his position by, if not illegal, certainly questionably moral actions.
Let me start by saying that I am not attributing ‘evil’ to this regime, although some of the tactics used to try to discredit Angel Nozal and many of his councillors, border on Machiavellian malevolence: to the point that Nozal was denounced for actions which actually took place during Maldonado’s mandate.
If you want to be ‘evil’, ladies and gentlemen of the Mijas Council, you first need to be smart, and smart is not the first word that comes to mind when we look at the chaos generated by clueless government, the signature of your esteemed corporation.
But enough about mayor Maldonado.
You see, there are two parts to Burke’s idea, so now I want to focus on the second part. We, the international community in Mijas, did nothing at the last elections. Sure, there were about 1000 of us who went out to vote. This, however, is not impressive when we make up more than a third of the 80,000 residents of Mijas.
In my role as secretary for the International Community in Mijas (working with the Partido Popular), I am contacted on a near daily basis by internationals (not just Brits), who are sick and tired of projects half finished, rubbish accumulating around the municipality because of inane decisions about the use of the public tip (Punto Limpio), lack of police presence and consequent feelings of insecurity, and the inaccessibility of the Mayor and his government team, some of whom have lied about not dealing with certain areas of responsibility any more in order to get residents off their backs.
Yes, international community, foreigners, expats, immigrants, call yourselves what you will, we have what we have because we did nothing.
I have some questions for you. Are you happy about how your money is being managed and spent? Are you happy with what you see around you; the neglect, the projects half finished? What are you going to do about it, then?
I am also contacted on a regular basis by residents who clearly have had enough and want to get onto the Voters’ Roll. It is the easiest paperwork I have ever done in Spain, and that is saying something.
I am not prepared to sit back and let chaos reign because I am too indifferent to register, and to vote. What about you?
Joseph de Maistre said: “The people get the government they deserve,” and Mijas deserves better. But if we don’t vote, this applies equally. My vote goes for the only man standing for mayor who has demonstrated that we deserve him. My tick, with no apology, goes in the Nozal box.
