The upheaval continues (Juan Carlos Girauta in El Debate)

The old political order, clinging to censorship and unsustainable pacts, faces an unstoppable decline while new forces emerge with strength.

## The old politics is suffocating in censorship and pacts

The old politics, the kind that seems incapable of adapting to the new times, has chosen a strategy that, seen from the outside, looks doomed to failure: censorship. Whether by appealing to the "conscience" of the media so that they censor themselves, or by baring its teeth more directly, the response has been the same. It seems the establishment parties, the ones that have held power for decades, know no other way. We have seen it in Italy with **Giorgia Meloni**, whom they called a "fascist" relentlessly, and there she still is, more solid than many of her predecessors. In Germany, **Merz** and his **CDU** seem to have fallen into the same trap, betting on a turn that, instead of consolidating them, has led them to irrelevance.

## The CDU's miscalculation

**Merz**'s victory in last year's German federal elections was based, so the argument goes, on a false premise about a shift in migration policy. The decisions made by **Angela Merkel** at the time, especially after the 2015 refugee crisis, seem to have been more a reflection of her past in East Germany than of a long-term strategic vision. The consequences of that policy, such as the incidents on New Year's Eve trinc the arrival of a million and a half young Syrians, should have served as a wake-up call. Instead of correcting course, however, the **CDU** has chosen a path of complex and often contradictory alliances.

## Impossible pacts and the cordon sanitaire

The old Christian-democratic right, once the axis of power in Europe, has been, so to speak, shrunk down. They have made deals with "liberals" who, paradoxically, are among the most interventionist on the continent. They have embraced the Greens, who are accused of suffocating German industry and Spanish agriculture. And to top it off, they have joined forces with the most radical left, where groups like **Batasuna** and **Podemos** find shelter. The result is a fractured political landscape, where vice presidencies are handed out and mutual accusations fly, often with a touch of irony, about affinity with Russia. This path, full of betrayals and miscalculations, seems to be leading **Merz** and his dwindling **CDU** straight into the void.

## The arrogance of power

For some, prudence has been the best option. Yet the insistence on maintaining "cordon sanitaires" and labeling half the voters as "nancy" while ignoring the results of the ballot box is a display of arrogance that can prove fatal. The union of everyone against the far right, without listening to the popular will, is a dangerous path. The traditional parties, together with the conventional media, seem to form a dense and murky bloc, incapable of offering real answers to citizens.