What if I were president for a day? We’re in sync on this question, tonight, along with the other little not-blue spades biking woodly on berliner bass 🙂 Still, it bugs me that we haven’t decided on what kind of president, and why only for a day… I wouldn’t want to be president for only one day, although if I were the President of the Spanish Cabinet of Ministers, I would swiftly send to Parliament the long-awaited draft law on access to information, with all the amendments and modifications proposed by my friends at Access-Info Europe 😉 And, yet, if I did that, I’d be promptly and rightly accused of conflict of interests, so I wouldn’t do it just like that, in spite of this year’s Right to Know Day approaching fast on September 28…
By the same token, if I were President of Romania, I’d look at my constitutional prerogatives, and I’d realize that I simply need a full mandate, not just a fool’s day 😉 Oh, there’s so many things that need fixing in this country, that if I had the choice, I’d rather be Prime-Minister, not President—but then again, not just for one day, as that’d be an utterly bad joke 🙁 But, since I’d already brought in RTKD, if I’d be President for a day, some time this week, I’d just require of all my staff to organize a nice party for the 10-year anniversary of Romania’s law on access to information. And require of all participants to truly honor this law, and simply release all the information they got to the public—in open-data format 🙂 mandatory, on the spot! 😉
Oh, and if I were the President of the European Council, I’d urge, push, even twist the arms of participating ministers, till I’d finally get a decision to drop that non-sense battle against the Court in Luxembourg 🙂 Or, if I were the President of the United States, I’d make sure that the Embassy in Bucharest got more friendly with its visitors: Been there yesterday, on call by someone inside, and the security guys treated me like dirt—no shelter against the scorching sun, no courtesy call to the person inside, not even an ashtray or a return cab… And this happens totally outside Bucharest, in a place where they think they’re secure, whereto regular Joe can’t take a bus or a bike, but needs to drive a car—if you don’t believe me, try to google their address!
So, what if I were president of an organization, an agency, a council?!? Only for one day?!? Neah, that’s neither wise, nor enough, guys! Some people just want power to joke around, to show off, to simply bask in that feeling of being powerful… Not me! I don’t want a position of power, depleted of decision-making power—this is exactly what you’d get only for a day, or for daily compromises, if you catch my drift… If I ever want power, I will not compromise, but consult—and meaningful consultations with stakeholders always take more than just one day! Let me conclude with a powerful question, then: Who would take the responsibility, who would be accountable for decisions made, all of a sudden, during just one day?!? I fear the possible answers 🙁
PS Just because this has been ringing in my head for the past 2 hours, let me tell you, for one day only, I wouldn’t even wanna be the captain of her heart! For the same reason—apparent position, no decision…
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