We are approaching 2022, but we can already imagine what 2023 will be like, the set of works since the 2018 election is already defined.

In 2022 we will live the last year of the electoral process, which began in 2019. Never in the history of this country has an election started so early. Much of what was decided in the political sphere was with thoughts turned to general elections.

The projects taken to Congress, or that came from it, left aside the necessary structural reforms and focused on objectives that help to increase party resources; secret budget for parliamentary amendments (can that?!); sunroof of spending, with an opening to be overcome in order to obtain budgetary slack for programs that can win votes, regardless of the consequences for the future and the impacts caused on public accounts and legal certainty; high unemployment; inflation and high interest rates and everything being done with the justification that it is to serve the poor who really are, as always, very harmed and who, in the end, will continue to pay the bills.

In this dramatic scenario, the economy, shattered by the pandemic, did not react in a “V”, as stated by optimists. In 2021, we entered a technical recession, which hinders a recovery in 2022.

And, finally, the precocious electoral process will be deepened, which will be of a very low level, with opponents in a free-for-all that, for sure, will shame our entire nation. Some of the so-called pathways will ooze hatred following the “us against them” maxim.

Everything indicates that concrete and feasible proposals to stimulate development, the urgent generation of jobs, attraction of investments, attention to legal security, will remain in the background.

The reforms, always remembered and never executed, tax, administrative and, one that is now forgotten, politics, must be touched upon, after all, approaching them with due seriousness can mean the loss of votes and support.

Can this picture be considered pessimistic or is it realistic?

The facts, these boring ones, demonstrate that this is our reality and will try to sell us, once again, the scam, that a leader will save us from this sad situation. The worst thing is that we didn't learn and we will continue to believe in this dream, of the savior of the country.

Once the challenges and traumas of 2022 have been overcome, we may, depending on the election's outcome, reach 2023 with renewed hope, which we always hold on to.

The truth is that rationality in politics has never been so necessary, that there is a concertation around proposals that are carried out so that we can start to hit the right course, without Sebastian, with the clarity that the damage will not be overcome with nice promises and that there is no magic for us to overcome so many difficulties.

Knowledge, experience, greatness of our economy, our workforce and wealth, we are not lacking. We know we have everything, but we never face the challenge of facing difficulties seriously and responsibly to assert our competitive advantages. We are left regretting our fate instead of striving for solutions and achievements.

Leaders have the duty to point out directions and the courage to say that it will not be easy. We have to get over the feeling that we can have it all at no cost, that the bill can always be pushed.

The discussion about the size of the State that we can afford and that the public treasury is not endless and results from the taxes that everyone pays, better, almost everyone, needs to be explained to the population. It is not about cutting investments and aid for the poorest, but cutting waste, in the certainty that adjustments cannot be made only on the revenue side. We have, like anyone who manages a house, to balance the expenses with what is possible to receive. There is no room for increasing taxation, but a lot for the rationalization of expenses.

In this context, it should be remembered that there is a provision in our Federal Constitution that already determines how the public administration should act and that, if respected, would help to overcome many of our afflictions. This is article 37, which defines imperative principles: legality, impersonality, morality, publicity, efficiency and also includes the participation of the user of public services. So, being responsible, adding competence, fighting corruption, focusing on effectiveness to stimulate development and fight inequalities cannot be a chimera.

So that it does not continue to be a constitutional determination confronted every day, it would be interesting that, in all electoral debates, their excellencies, the candidates, and their obligations as public servants were reminded.

May 2023 be the year of article 37.