I really liked Jose Mujica. He is not after cheap heroism as Chavez was. He is working quietly and humbly.

Jose Mujica is 78 years old. A former Tupamaros guerilla, he fought and was shot by the police six times. He was incarcerated for 14 years in a military prison; he paid a price for his actions. He was elected president of Uruguay in 2010. Currently, he is showing the world a different kind of political leadership. He is a very humble and modest man. He does not cause noise pollution when he talks. He walks with two bodyguards! He lives with his wife in their small farmhouse outside of town instead of in the presidential palace. He does not use an official car, nor does he have a motorcade that escorts him, honking or blocking streets. Indeed, he drives his old Beetle. He is different from many leaders, say Hugo Chavez. Mujica’s Uruguay was selected the country of the year by The Economist. I was quite surprised.

Not because Uruguay was selected. Don’t get me wrong. The Economist’s selection was indeed a pleasant surprise for me. Some of you might remember; a couple of weeks ago, I complained in this column that Turkey was not as good as Uruguay. My emphasis was that the Uruguayan economy was better managed than the Turkish economy. I still believe so. I was surprised rather that a media company voted for humbleness. I mean, the media like pompous, big talk and hate modesty. This is exactly why politics is a loud business. Politicians already are inclined to take themselves and what they do too seriously and believe that the world would collapse without them. The media’s passion for pomposity shapes politics. I was genuinely surprised that the media made mention of Uruguay quietly minding its own business instead of all the loud people around racing to steal the show. It made me wonder, “are we really at the dawn of a new era?”

Uruguay is a Latin country on the east coast of South America, below Brazil. Its 177,000 square meters is less than five times the size of the largest Turkish city. And its population is only three million. Check the 2013 Corruption Perception Index of the Transparency International, or the World Bank’s Global Governance Indicators. The numbers validate that Uruguay belongs to the west and Turkey to the east. You have to look very carefully to differentiate Turkey from the Middle East. We always complain whenever Turkey is not considered a European country. Yet Uruguay outperforms Turkey concerning the rule of law.

Are corruption and bribery never issues in Uruguay? Of course they are. When do allegations of corruption appear? At times when public spending and service provision peak. There has to be a big deal going on to make going after the profit worth it, right? Anyway, last year, Uruguay decided to close down the national airline PLUNA as the company was in loss. The government clamped down on the issue. Later came a probe on the auction of sale of PLUNA to a private company. Economy Minister Fernando Lorenzo, who was at the heart of the allegations, resigned last week to be tried as an ordinary citizen by independent courts. He had been in the government since 2010 and Mujica has no doubt about him. In fact, the other day Mujica said that he had tried to talk him out of resigning, but he had failed.

A successful minister has resigned so that he can stand on trial as an ordinary citizen. Is it clear where the economic success of Uruguay lies? Let me say it once again: There are two types of countries, those with current account deficits and those with current account surpluses. Turkey and Uruguay are in the first group; China and South Korea are in the second. The deficit countries can be divided to two groups. In the first group are those with low growth volatility and stable growth, and in the second are those with high growth volatility and unstable growth. Uruguay is in the first group. There, the business world is able to foresee the future and set a medium-term perspective on the economic prospects. Turkey is in the second group. For the business people in Turkey, the medium-term is a huge mystery. The range of vision is longer in Uruguay than in Turkey.

I really liked Jose Mujica. He is not after cheap heroism as Chavez was. He is working quietly and humbly. He is not talking big. And when people praise him for his achievements, he just says that they are trying options. He does not sound like a politician at all. It is rather odd and contrary to what we are accustomed.

This commentary was published in Radikal daily on 24.12.2013