In the family of false good ideas, the prohibition of multiple mandates applicable to parliamentarians occupies a special place. Many people saw it as a quasi-panacea: by prohibiting the simultaneous exercise of a local executive function, we would finally create a class of professionals in the law and government control, freed from the temptations of absenteeism and thus made worthy of rising to the expected nobility and level of performance. But we discover – as long as we are willing to look into it – that this reform has produced quite disastrous results because it has closed a little more the jar in which our representatives live and raised the level of ambient derealization. Pile what we don’t need.
Let us observe the personal condition of a modern deputy – the case of senators is a little different – and ask ourselves what he finds in the market for reasons to live. In truth, not much. As an individual, he has no power – and especially no power to make himself prosaically useful to the citizens of his municipality by having the sidewalks repaired or by ensuring that public order is respected. He exercises no responsibility, apart from the management of his colleagues, and in fact almost never exercised any when he was elected young. The perception he has of the importance of his task is thus calibrated by the idea he has of it and by the energy he will put into the project of existing at the same time as an individual. and as a fraction of the “collective” to which he claims to belong – his political formation.
He vociferates in session
From there, it vibrates. He gets agitated. He submits bills and amendments until he knows what to do with them – the site “nosdeputes.fr” encourages him to do so with enthusiasm, who quantifies his “interventions” as so many signs of excellence. He vociferates during the session – ordinary mortals do not know that we can no longer hear ourselves speaking because there is so much If he has made himself desirable on social networks, he adds a layer of “clash” and “buzz” to the cake of his public image – Ah, the declarations of Ersilia Soudais… And that’s it. as well as, fighting against both boredom and indifference, it sabotages the machine by depriving it of its necessary fuels: time for real work, reflection, listening, the minimum of necessary serenity, maintained tension towards the common good…
But they are playing politics, you might say! “Poloche”! Without question. They calculate, they machiavellize in the room, they plot tricks, they think about the next elections, they see noon at their door… As if these games gave the measure of everything; as if nothing else was more important. Except this is their world, not ours; their concerns, not ours. Basically, populists are not entirely wrong to criticize our elected officials for not caring enough about what people need. Everything contributes to making them think of something else, if not otherwise.
Closed, crazy guaranteed. In its chemically pure state, no belief, no ideology has ever led a nation in an acceptable manner. Political actors need something extra: a confrontation with reality, experience, an ability to learn from it and – what normally goes with it – a bit of consideration for the experience of others. A little air and calm, too.
The prohibition of multiple mandates has imposed on Parliament a profound existential and cognitive closure, as toxic for the smooth running of the institution as for the mental hygiene of those involved. The resulting double withdrawal – into themselves and into political policy – has aggravated their difficulty in objectively understanding the country’s problems and providing them with a reasonable response. At a time when, in fact, the country is re-parliamentizing itself, these impotences are more dangerous than ever. Even if this will obviously not be enough to repel all the demons, we must put the theme of the accumulation of mandates back on the table.
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