The importance of sovereignty and municipalism in the fight against Covid-19 and its consequences: Local experiences on healthcare in the Basque Country and Catalonia

REPORT

It is time for the change, to overcome the neoliberal capitalist model that has weakened us as a society. The COVID-19 crisis has increased inequality and has made the structural weaknesses of our society even more evident. At the same time, the pandemic has accelerated the digital and green transitions. For example, it has sped up the digitalisation process of local administrations, which have generalized teleworking and implemented work-life balance measures.

In this context, it is time to consolidate leftist, progressive and republican parties leading local governments, with new politics and policies. The response from local governments to the COVID-19 crisis, from a leftist and republican vision, has been to reinforce their proximity to citizens and to strengthen public services. In this sense, a good practice has been to build solidarity networks to help and accompany the most vulnerable people. These networks have promoted and strengthened the sense of community.

Municipalities are at the forefront of citizen needs and must provide certainty and security to all. From leftist governments we aim at building a community municipalism that focuses on the common good, with progressive policies based on:

Transparency, proximity and empathy

Social participation

Co-responsibility, co-decision and co-creation

Welfare and care services

Defense and preservation of rights

The lessons from this COVID-19 crisis, from a leftist perspective, include the need to reach a robust public and universal health system, which pays special attention to the primary care system, together with a strong public system of care and attention to the elderly. It’s time to change and boost the public sector and the culture of the common good. Together with the fight for gender equality and the rights of migrants and refugees, this is necessary to achieve cohesion and social justice.

Municipalities must handle the challenge to keep social cohesion while not having neither adequate resources nor a say in related competences and policies. In this sense, it is important to empower local governments with more resources and better coordination with the other levels of administration, so that their voice and concerns are taken into account in the framework of a multi-level governance.

Leftist parties leading local governments must rebuild their communities, which suffer from more vulnerabilities and weaknesses due to the impact of this transversal crisis. The main priorities in our vision for a reconstruction that guarantees social justice and resilience are : the common good, rights and freedoms, culture, welfare, reconcile life and work, sustainability and green transition, productive economy and for life, connected territories and a cohesive society.

Meritxell Serret