Their ambition? Enter the Colombian Congress, Sunday March 13. Their name ? Estamos Listas (“we are ready”). Their logo? An owl, wings open, “symbol of strength and wisdom”, explains Erika Rodriguez, 27, who, on Sunday February 27, was distributing leaflets in the center of Bogota. “We must put an end to the macho discourse that wants to make people believe that women are not yet quite ready to assume certain responsibilities, Erika explains. Our name says our conviction: we are ready to decide, to act and to govern. » The first feminist political party in Colombia, Estamos Listas presents a list of eleven candidates for the Senate.
Thirty-nine million voters are called to the polls to elect a new Congress on March 13. They will return there on May 19 for the first round of the presidential election. The most optimistic of the militants of Estamos Listas hope to obtain 3 of the 116 seats in the Senate. An ambitious figure, since the movement must first pass the threshold of 3% of the votes cast. “Regardless of Sunday’s result, the existence of a feminist political party is a sign that the lines are moving in Colombia”, considers feminist lawyer Marta Tamayo.
According to the figures, they move slowly. The 2018 legislative elections led to 19.7% women in Congress, a result that puts Colombia more than ten points behind the Latin American average, far behind countries such as Cuba, Bolivia, Mexico, Argentina , Chile or Ecuador. The global average is 24.5%, according to the UN. “Patriarchy being what it is, men are not ready to cede power, recalls Elizabeth Giraldo, head of the list of Estamos Listas. And women tend to believe that they are not capable of arguing with them. »
Reflect diversity
The feminist party was born in the city of Medellin, the day after the 2016 peace referendum which saw the victory of the “no”, and complicated the implementation of the agreement signed with the guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). In 2018, Estamos listas won a seat on the Medellin City Council.
A peasant leader, a non-binary psychologist, an indigenous person, a lesbian, a black lawyer, a biologist, a single mother… The list is intended to reflect the diversity of the country. “We are the only political party that has played the game of democracy for the development of our list”, recalls Elizabeth Giraldo. The movement’s 1,800 activists have been involved in the process and will be consulted for all future decisions. The future elected representatives of Estamos Listas intend to collectively exercise their possible senatorial mandate. And transform politics.
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