PRESENTATION
The Electoral World Magazine, in its N° 31 edition, shows in the cover the former magistrate Erasmo Pinilla, the founder of this publication, together with me, since now I occupy this position as director. The image represents the transition of the magazine to the second generation of the board of directors.
This edition contains the usual balance of national and international authors, in order to offer the readers an overview of the electoral situation of the region that joins the electoral norms, idiosyncrasy, culture, tradition and social framework of each nation.
This edition has the contribution of the essay writers Juan Carlos Galindo Vácha, “The autonomy as budget to strengthen and to guarantee the political participation”, and Juan Carlos Pérez, “The opening of the system of postulations in Panama after the Law 29th of 2017”. Besides, the Panamanian jurist Julio Ernesto Linares Franco writes over the “Origins of our Republic”.
The authors Lorena González Ortega, Paula Suárez and Diana Batista Guevara present their works over the identity of gender and the role of the Latin American women in the evolution of the democracy of the region.
We hope that this edition, that contains the customary sections that include the re-launching of the magazine, contributes to enrich the electoral culture of our kind readers.
Alfredo Juncá Wendehake Director de Mundo Electoral
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 1 CONTENT
3 The Autonomy as Budget to Strengthen and to Guarantee the Political Participation Juan Carlos Galindo Vácha
The Opening of the System of Postulations in Panama after the Law 29 of the 29th of May 16 of 2017 Juan Carlos Pérez Cortés
20 The Evolution the Ecuadorian Electoral System from a Constitutional Perspective Ricardo Andrade
Participation of women facing the political harassment and violence 25 Lorena González Ortega
33 The Issue of Gender in Electoral Matter in the Republic of Argentina Paula Suárez
44 Marta Matamoros, a woman of great substance and integrity Dania Batista Guevara
48 2017 Project of Electoral Inclusion in Honduras Ricardo Valverde Gómez
55 Origins of our republic. Panama Julio Ernesto Linares Franco
62 Events
76 Institutional Social Responsability
79 Who is Who?
81 Electotips
82 Glosary
Cover: Alfredo Juncá Wendehake, magistrate second vicepresident and Mundo Electoral Magazine director, with the ex magistrate Erasmo Pinilla C., in the presentation of 2 Electoral World Magazine // January 2018 Mundo Electoral magazine´s new image. THE AUTONOMY AS BUDGET TO STRENGTHEN AND TO GUARANTEE THE POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
Juan Carlos Galindo Vácha
Colombia
NATIONAL REGISTRAR OF THE CIVIL STATUS - COLOMBIA He is a lawyer from the Pontifcal Javeriana University. He also has a Master´s degree in Law and Economics of Insurance from the Catholic University of Lovaina (Belgium). He was auxiliary magistrate of the of the civil cassation court of the Supreme Court of Justice and delegate procurator before the Third and Fifth Sections of the State Council. In the year 2007 he worked provisionally as national registrar of the Civil Status in order to organize the regional elections of that year. Since the year 1991 he is a professor of the Faculty of Juridical Sciences of the Pontifcal Javeriana University in different courses of pre-graduate and post-graduate programs. On the 3rd of December of 2015 he assumed the position as national registrar of the Civil Status.
In the present article, the thesis in virtue of which the expansion of the democracy and to the generation of an autonomy of the organisms in charge of guaranteeing active citizen culture, are valued through institutions that the electoral function is defended, since it contributes to promote the management of the communication in the the maturing of the democracy through the promotion public issues In the second part of this article, specifcally in request forms to convoke mechanisms of citizen the political participation is analyzed, in the Colombian participation. In particular, the text is divided in two case, through the confguration of the National Registrar sections: In the frst one, which has been called the political of the Civil Status in the 1991 Political Constitution and participation in the theory, a valuation of the participating in the balance of the functioning of the mechanisms of democracy and the consecration of the mechanisms of citizen participation in the legislative changes that have citizen participation as institutions that contribute to the taken place.
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 3 1. THE POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN THE THEORY 1.2 THE MECHANISMS OF CITIZEN PARTICIPATION IN DETAIL 1.1 PARTICIPATING DEMOCRACY In spite of the fact that in Colombia, neither in the In the nineties decade of the past century, the direct Constitution nor in the law had been regulated the democracy mechanisms are generalized in the latin mechanisms of citizen participation, in 1957 experience of american constitutions (Lissidini, 2008), and Colombia a Plebiscite took place, whose results were analyzed in the was not an exception with the issuing of the 1991 Political second part of this article, together with the mechanisms Constitution. It was due to this that in the article 31 if of the other mechanisms of participation. the supreme norm, it was emphasized the fact that the sovereignty belongs to the political constitution and it Maybe as reaction to this normative absence the mass is only submitted to itself at the moment of governing consecration of seven mechanisms of participation were (Marshall, 2010). This is the postulate of the popular presented in this way: “Article 103. The following are sovereignty. Our Constitution was generous in turning mechanisms of participation of the people in exercise of the participation in a fundamental axis of the Social and their sovereignty: the vote, the plebiscite, the referendum, Democratic State of Right. There are three elements of the popular consultation, the open town hall, the structured participation in the constitutional system: legislative initiative and the revocation of mandate. The one is the direct democracy that is related with the law will regulate them…”. Besides, it was established mechanisms of participation and it is characterized by its that the regulation of these institutions will be carried electoral nature, object of analysis in this article, given its out through the statutory laws that have a greater relationship with the functions of National Registrar of transcendence, given the requirements of majority for the Civil Status2. the approval, the themes that are of legal reserve and the constitutional control of previous, automatic and integral The aim of the constituent was to achieve more control. participation of the civil society in the control of the power in the decision making. For this it was yielded to have way from a merely representative democracy to a participating democracy, just as it was pointed out by the Constitutional Court in the judgement C-179 of 2002 indicating that the participating
For this, in the article 40 of the 1991 Political Constitution, where the political rights of the citizenship are consecrated, a listing of the possibilities to make them effective is made, being the right to elect and to be elected just one of the many manifestations for its exercise, taking into consideration that there exist diverse ways of direct democratic participation of the people3.
Revocation of Mandate – San Benito Abad – Sucre
1 Political Constitution of Colombia. Article 3°. The sovereignty resides exclusively on the people, which results from the public power. The people exerts it in a direct way or through its representatives, in the terms in which the Constitution establishes. 2 In the constitutional architecture it was also established the citizen participation in the public management and for this the the planning councils at the territory levels were planned, which have been acquiring relevance for the development plans. Finally, the third axis for the follow up and control was the citizen veedurías system, which has also been developed with important results. (Londoño, 2009). 3 Article 40 of the Political Constitution: “Article 40. Every citizen has the right to participate in the conformation, exercise and control of the political power. In order to make effective this right he/she can: 1. Elect and being elected. 2. Take part in elections, plebiscites, referrendums, popular consultations and other forms of democratic participation. 3. To build parties, movements and political groupings without any limitation; to be part of them freely and to spread their ideas and programs. 4. To revoke the mandate of the elected ones in the cases and in the way that the Constitution and the law establish. See Law 131 of 1994. 5. To have initiative in the public corporations. 6. To present public actions in defense of the Constitution and of the law. 7. Developed by the Law 43 of 1993. To access to the performance of functions and public positions, except for the Colombians, by birth or by adoption, that have double nationality. The law will regulate this exception and will determine the cases to which it should be applied. The authorities will guarantee the adequate and effective participation of the woman in the decission levels of the Public Administration”.
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It was in this way how the Constitutional Court in the Sentence C – 180 of 1994 over these mechanisms stated:
“The principle of democratic participation expresses not only On the contrary, the a system of decision making, but also a model of social and derogation and the political behavior, based on the principles of pluralism, the tolerance, the protection of the rights and freedoms as well as revocation ones are reactive, in a great responsibility of the citizens in the defnition of the are mechanisms that look collective destiny. The concept of participating democracy the application of the democratic principles that provide information to derogate a law already on the political practice to areas different from the electoral approved and to revoke one. It includes a re-valuation and a strong dimensioning of the concept of citizen and the reformulation of its role in the the mandate of a worker national life. It does not simply includes the consecration of elected by the citizenship mechanisms so that the citizens make decisions in referéndums or in popular consultations, or so that they revoke the mandate of (the governors and mayors those who have been elected, but instead, it additionally implies for the Colombian case) that the citizen can participate permanently in the non-electoral decision making processes that will infuence signifcantly in (Lissidini, 2008). the coursek of their lives. In this way, it is looked to strengthen the channels of representation, to democratize them and to promote the more balanced pluralism and less unequal. The participation conceived inside the democratic system to which it has been referred to, inspires the new framework over which the constitutional system of the Colombian State is structured. economics and human resources, but at the same time This implies the quantitative broadening of real opportunities can impulse the public debate and the empowering of the of citizen participation, as well as the qualitative recomposition citizens. In regards to the derogation and the revocation in such a way that, besides the electoral political aspect, its of mandate, they are mechanisms of defense of the citizens spectrum is projected to the individual, familiar, economics, and facing the laws and the unpopular governors. However, social planes”. there exist risks that can put in jaque the representative system, especially if they are misused or if constantly they It has stood out the doctrine as juridical ways that assume threaten with using them. (Lissidini, 2008) the exercise of direct democracy: the legislative initiative, the popular initiative, the derogating one and the Due to the above, it results perentory to impulse the revocation of mandate. The frst two ones, as proactive consciene of the adequate use of the mechanisms and mechanisms, in other words, the citizens propose laws instances of the citizen participation so that they can be and constitutional reforms to the Parliament (legislative used with purposes of general interests and they do not initiative) or directly to the citizenship (popular initiative). deviate in revenges; since the exercise of the democracy On the contrary, the derogation and the revocation ones implies a set of attitudes, beliefs, civic virtues, tolerance, are reactive, are mechanisms that look to derogate a law fraternity, responsibility, convictions, public moral, already approved and to revoke the mandate of a worker dialogue, concertation and social justice to confgure a elected by the citizenship (the governors and mayors for true Democratic State (Monroy, 2011). the Colombian case) (Lissidini, 2008). Each one of the seven mechanisms of participation have In the analysis of the risks that these democratic processes been defned in the Law 134 of the 1994 4 as follows: can face it has been stated tha the legislative initiative requires organization, knowledge and material resources POPULAR LEGISLATIVE AND NORMATIVE not accessible to any group of citizens. In this sense, INITIATIVE BEFORE THE PUBLIC CORPORATIONS. the risk that the initiative constitutes a tool of groups It is the political right of a group of citizens of presenting of interest that look to obtain corporation reedits, in the Project of Legislative Act and of law before the detriment of other social organizations with less capacity Congress of the Republic, the Ordenanza before the of movilization. Likewise, the direct popular consultation Department Assemblies, of Agreement before the to the citizenship also requires capacity of movilization,
4 Articles 2° to 9° of the Statutory Law 134 of 1994.
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 5 Municipal or District Councils and the Resolution before The vote has been directly defned by the Constitution as the Local Administrative Boards. a citizen right and a duty5. Besides, it establishes that the State must be watchful so that it can be casted without REFERENDUM. It is the convocation that is made to the any type of coaction and in secret way by the citizens in people so that it approved or rejects a project of juridical individual cubicles installed in each voting table without norm or derogates or not a norm that already exists. The prejudice of the use of electronics or information means. referendum can be national, regional, departmental, district, municipal or local. All the mechanisms previously described have been promoted in Colombia. However, they have not been REVOCATION OF MANDATE. The revocation of excempt of the risks that are mentioned since the process mandate is a political right, through which the citizens of the construction of an active and independent political fnish the mandate that they have conferred to a governor culture is long run road. or to a mayor.
THE PLEBISCIT. The plebiscite is the pronouncing of the people convoked by the president of the Republic, 1.3 JURIDICAL REGIME OF THE MECHANISMS AND THE through which a certain decision made by the Executive ADVANCES TOWARDS FLEXIBILIZATION is supported or rejected. As it was mentioned above, the article 152 of the Political POPULAR CONSULTATION. The popular consultation Constitution determined that the institutions and is the institution through which, a question of general mechanisms of citizen participation can be regulated by nature over an issue of national, departmental, municipal, the Congress of the Republic through statutory laws. It district, or local trascendence is submitted by the president was this way as the frst ones to be issued were the Law of the Republic, the governor, or the mayor, as the case 131 of 1994 “For which it is regulated the programmatic vote might be, to the consideration of the people, so that they and other dispositions are established”, and the Law 134 of can formally pronounce al respectok. 1994 “For which norms of mechanisms of citizen participation are established”. OPEN TOWN HALL. The open town hall is the public meeting of the district, municipal councils, or of the The requirements for the exercise of each one of these local administrative boards, in which the habitants can mechanisms were too demanding for the stimuli and the participate directly with the purpose of discussing issues promotion of the political participation, since controls of interest for the community. and limits that diffculted them were established, due to this they were object of several reforms. The last one was carried out through the Law 1757 of 2015 “For which dispositions in matter of promotion and protection of the right to the democratic participation are established”.
The main purpose of the Law 1757 of 2015 was the one of fexibilizing the requirements to promote the active exercise of the mechanisms of participation since the existing normative, which was considered very demanding in the amount of supports required to present citizen initiatives, had been criticized, as well as the need to count with high thresholds of participation, as condition of linking of the mechanism. As follows, in the table it is presented the quantity of citizen support required to present the request forms of initiatives over mechanisms of citizen participation:
Training to Voting Juries – Popular Consultation – Cumaral – Meta.
5 Article 258 of the Political Constitution.
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Table N.° 1. Citizen supports
Name of the mechanism Quantity of citizen supports required
Equal or superior to 5% of the in force electoral census at Popular initiative of the legislative act. the date in which the registry of the initiative was carried out.
Equal or superior to 5% of the in forcé electoral census at Constitutional referendum the date in which the registry of the initiative was carried out.
Equal or superior to 5% of the in force electoral census Popular consultation of citizen origin before the at the date in which was carried out the registry of the Congress. initiative.
Equal or superior to 10% of the electoral census at the Derogatory referendum of a law. date in which was carried out the registry of the initiative.
Equal or superior at 10% of the in valid electoral census Popular initiative, competence of territorial entities. in the territorial entity.
A number not greater of the ten per cent (10%) of citizens Popular consultation of citizen origin in the territorial that are part of the respective in force electoral census entities. at the date in which it was carried the registry of the initiative.
A number of citizens of not less of the thirty per cent Revocation of the mandate (30%) of the votes obtained by the elected one.
Source: DPTSC, (2016)
On the other side, after complying with the requirements and the procedure established in the law, for the referendum, the plebiscite, the popular consultation, and the revocation of mandate, it will proceed to the popular voting. It disposes the normative as condition so that the decisions that are adopted in the mechanism of participation, the following suppositions:
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 7 Table N.° 2. Requirements for the mandatory decissions
Name of the mechanism Requirements for the enforceability
Plebiscit6 That more than ffty per cent (50%) have participated in the valid electoral census.
The positive vote of more than half of the voters and that the number of these Referendum will exceed the fourth part of the total of the citizens that integrate the electoral census.
That the question that is consulted to the people have obtained the affrmative vote of one half plus one of the valid suffrages, always as long as not less than Popular consultation the third part of the electors that compose the respective electoral census have participated.
The popular pronouncing by half plus one of the citizen votes that participate in the respective convocation, as long as the number of suffrages is not less than Revocation of the mandate forty (40%) of the registered voting the day in which the respective mandatary was elected.
If it is approved this way, when at least the third part of the integrant ones of the Constituent Assembly electoral census. The rules defned by the people in the consultation cannot be varied later on.
Source: DPTSC, (2016), based on the Law 1757 of 2015.
6 In the year 2016 a plebiscite was convoked for the authentication of the fnal agreement for the termination of the confict and the construction of a stable and lasting peace that had a special normative. This mechanism was regulated through the Law 1806 of 2016 and there, different requirements of approval were established. The voting for the yes had to overpass the 13% of the valid Electoral Census and to be greater than the no votes. Making the transit, for the frst time in the participating democratic history in Colombia, of the traditional thresholds of participation in the mechanisms of direct democracy to the concept of approval threshold which fully leaves out the possibility of abstentionism either in the valid form of participation, reducing the options to make effective the political rights of the citizenship, to the vote of some of the options (Yes or No), (Judgement C – 379 of 2016, M.P. Luis Ernesto Vargas Silva).
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The Law 1757 of 2015 was object of control of constitutional As it has been observed, the new normative looks to and in the Judgement C – 150 of 2015, the Court established expand even more the democracy and to promote the the following regarding the citizen participation: exercise of the active citizenship. For this, the second part of this text will put in evidence that the effect of “The Court understands that the participation as right of the fexibilizing the requirements for the recollection of citizens and medular axis of the in forcé constitutional ordering the supports and the decrease of the thresholds so that implies (i) the duty of the State of abstaining of adopting measures the decision would be mandatory, has generated a of any type that hinder the free exercise of the paticipation by proliferation in the citizen initiatives of the mechanisms the citizens and social organizations, (ii) the duty of adopting of participation. measures of any type that avoid that the publico authorities or particular have interference or affect the free exercise of the 2. THE POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN THE PRACTICE faculties in whose exercise is manifested the participation and (iii) the duty of implementing measures that procure optimizing 2.1. The National Registrature of the Civil Status of the development of the diverse forms of participation and that, the legal consecration to its constitutional recognition at the same time, avoid to unjustifably go back in the levels as autonomous organization. of protection reached. These duties of the State are detailed in specifc duties to the ones that the Court refers as follows: Since the Law 89 of 1948, it has been clear that having to (i) The duty of abstaining of estatizar la democracy and, in do with the scrutiny and of declaration of election, the consequence, the obligation of protecting the pluralism, (ii) The citizens can count with impartial institutions that are in duty of promoting forms of democratic participation that include charge of safeguarding the electoral purity. Taking into not only the intervention of parties or political movements, but consideration that what at the moment it was called as also the social organizations of different nature. (iii) The duty of function of cedulation, if refers to the formation of the promoting democratic structures in the different forms of social electoral census, the project of Law of 1948 conferred to organization. (iv) Prohibition, that links all the public organs, a body of workers headed by the National Registrar of government workers and particulars, of eliminating some of the the Civil Status, the previous functions related with the dimensions of the democracy. (v) Mandate of not substituting registry, the identifcation and the electoral census.7. the competent state authorities in the development of activities of control”. In the National Constituent Assembly, the forth sub- commission of the First Commission, after analyzing the 33 projects presented, determined that the central points in matter of Parties, Electoral Systems and Statutes of the opposition are: the constitutional recognition of the parties and political movements, the consecration of an independent electoral branch and autonomous, the adoption of one, the electoral card, the establishment of the mandatory vote, the widening of the disabilities and incompatibilities for candidates to positions of popular election and the elevation to the constitutional category of the right to political opposition and its guarantees8.
The electoral function is the essence of a State of right, because without it there will not be legitimacy for the exercise of the other branches of the public power. The electoral function refers to the structuring of the government and the public corporations and as such, it demands to count with specialized organs, in charge of Revocation of Mandate. regulating, organizing and controlling it. This function is different from the other In consideration to the previous arguments, an electoral organization was created as autonomous and independent, with two organs which
7 Exposition of reasons of the project of law “on electoral organization” prepared by the senators Carlos Lleras Camargo and Gilberto Moreno. Taken from (Mayorga, 2012). History of the Electoral Organization in Colombia (1888-2012). University of Rosario. 8 National Constituent Assembly. Constitutional Gazzette N° 56. Pages 8-11.
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 9 are the National Electoral Council and the National Civil In the normative that rules the organization and Registry, in charge of the direction and organization functioning of the National Civil Registry, it has been of the elections, the civil registry and the identifcation established as one of its functions the organization of functions of the State since the electoral act is neither the mechanisms of citizen participation, its direction application nor creation of the law9. and surveillance As it was stated in the frst part, previously to the 1991 Constitution it did not exist In consideration to the previous arguments, an regulation neither constitutional nor legal over the electoral organization was created as autonomous and mechanisms of citizen participation. However, in 1957 independent, with two organs which are the National it was carried out a plebiscite whose electoral potential Electoral Council and the National Civil Registry, was of 6,080,342 and that had a participation of 4,397,090 in charge of the direction and organization of the of voters, which meant a participation of 72.3% 11. elections, the civil registry and the identifcation of the persons10. The Electoral Organization has been object of Now, being into force the new constitutional frame and constitutional reforms that have contributed to strengthen complying with its objectives, the National Civil Registry the independence of the institution. has directed and organized 389 initiatives of mechanisms of participation in twenty years, as it is shown in the 2.2 THE AUTONOMY AND IMPARTIALITY AT THE following table: SERVICE OF THE CITIZEN PARTICIPATION
Table N.° 3. Total of mechanisms of participation carried out between the years 1996 to 2016
Name of the mechanism Amount
Open town hall 12 216
Popular consultation 50
Normative initiative 20
Referendum 52
Plebiscite 1
Revocation of mandate 49
Total 388
Source: National Civil Registry
9 Ibidem. 10 National Constituent Assembly. Constitutional Gazzatte N° 89. Pages 2-5. 11 The thematic of the 1957 Plebiscite is presented as follows: (Registrature, 1957). The government submitted to the approval of the people, a constitutional reform that in its essence is reduced to introduce in the fundamental institutions of the Republic, for twelve years, the system of balance between the two political forces that represent the totality of the Colombian opinion. Besides, it is proposed that the women will have the same political rights than the men. 12 For the cases of the open cabildos, the participation of the National Registrature of the Civil Status is circumscribed to the presentation nof the request forms and it does not exist a mechanism that will allow to verify if the cabildos carried it out effectively or not.
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The open town hall has been the most requested participation are Amazons, Arauca, Cesar, Chocó, mechanism, with 126 established proposals, followed Guainía, San Andrés, Vaupés, and Vichada. After the by the referéndum, mainly at the national level with 52 promulgation of the 1991 Constitution, only one plebiscite requests and of the popular consultation with 50. En which had a special regulation given the conditions of relation to the revocation of mandate, none has prospered, the thematic submitted to the decision of the people, such different from the voted popular consultations since as the has been requested, which was the approval or not some of them have advanced indeed. of an agreement for the termination of the internal armed confict and the construction of a stable and lasting peace. The analysis by departments shows that from the 33 electoral circumscriptions of the country, including For the year 2017, which becomes the ffth year of the Bogota, from at least one mechanism of participation in effective validity of the new normative (Law 1757 of 25 of them, have been fled. In CundinamarcaSantander 2015) of the mechanisms of citizen participation, a great and Boyaca, more than 30 requests have been registered demand to carry them out has been presented. In the in each department. The 8 departments that in 2013 following table, the requests that have been processed up do not register request forms of mechanisms of citizen to May of the present year, are presented:
Table N.° 4. Total of mechanisms of participation presented until May of 2017
Name of the mechanism Amount
Open town hall 52
Popular consultation 10
Normative initiative 9
Referendum 10
Revocation of mandate 117
Total 198
Source: National Civil Registry.
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 11 From the requests forms processed this year, fve (5) popular consultations of citizen origin and nine (9) revocations of mandate, have been carried out, as follows: Table N.° 5. Mechanisms of participation carried out until August of 2017 MECHANISM DEPT. MUNICIPLE PROPOSAL OF TITLE REVOCATION OF NORTE DE OCAÑA REVOCATION OF MANDATE MANDATE SANTANDER REVOCATION OF CESAR EL COPEY REVOCATION OF MANDATE MANDATE
REVOCATION OF SUCRE SAN BENITO ABAD REVOCATION OF MANDATE MANDATE
REVOCATION OF SANTANDER BARRANCABERMEJA REVOCATION OF MANDATE MANDATE
REVOCATION OF TOLIMA ICONONZO REVOCATION OF MANDATE MANDATE REVOCATION OF BOLÍVAR EL CARMEN DE BOLÍVAR REVOCATION OF MANDATE MANDATE REVOCATION OF SUCRE PALMITO REVOCATION OF MANDATE MANDATE REVOCATION OF MAGDALENA SITIONUEVO REVOCATION OF MANDATE MANDATE REVOCATION OF VICHADA PUERTO CARREÑO REVOCATION OF MANDATE MANDATE
DO YOU AGREE, YES OR NOT, WITH THE FACT THAT IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF CABRERA, CONDINAMARCA, AS ZONE OF AGRICULTURAL RESERVE, MINING AND/ POPULAR CUNDINAMARCA CABRERA OR HIDROELECTRICAL PROJECTS THAT WOULD CONSULTATION AFFECT THE USE OF THE SOIL, THE WATER, OR THE AGRICULTURAL VOCATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY COULD BE CARRIED OUT?
DO YOU AGREE, YES OR NOT, THAT IN THE POPULAR TOLIMA CAJAMARACA MUNICIPALITY OF CAJAMARCA, MINING PROJECTS CONSULTATION AND ACTIVITIES COULD BE CARRIED OUT?
DO YOU AGREE, CUMARALANIAN CITIZEN, THAT WITHIN THE JURISDICTION OF THE MUNICIPALITY POPULAR OF CUMARAL (META), ACTIVITIES OF SEISMIC META CUMARAL CONSULTATION EXPLORATION ACTIVITIES, EXPLORATORY PERFORATION AND PRODUCTION OF HYDROCARBONS PROJECTRS COULD BE CARRIED OUT?
DO YOU AGREE OR NOT THAT IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF ARBELAEZ, CUNDINAMARCA, ACTIVITIES OF POPULAR CUNDINAMARCA ARBELÁEZ SEISMIC EXPLORATION, EXPLOITING AND WASHING CONSULTATION OF HYDROCARBON MATERIALS AND/OR MINING AT LARGE SCALE, COULD BE CARRIED OUT?
DO YOU AGREE, YES OR NOT, WITH THE FACT THAT POPULAR QUINDIO PIJAO IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF PIJAO, MINING OF METAL CONSULTATION PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES COULD BE DEVELOPED?
Source: National Civil Registry
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In relation to the revocation of mandates, which is the It is important to make a refection facing the object mechanism of participation that has increased the most over which the majority of the popular consultations in the last year, it is valid to state that its growth has with citizen origin have been versed in the last year, been a matter of controversy and furthermore, that it has considering the validity of the new normative that not been accepted peacefully by the different political regulates the matter, since it has mainly marked mining actors in the society, since it counts with a regulation of themes and of hydrocarbon production, where it has statutory nature that gives way to diverse interpretations been pretended that the citizenship should be the one that and certain administrative regulation in charge of the can take a position and a postura facing the exploiting of National Electoral Council, which has generated debates these natural resources in their municipalities. regarding the way in which it can be carried out in an affective way. This matter has suscited some level of confict since in spite of the fact of the rise of this mechanism, some Either the conditions to start it, the procedure of concern has been generated in the National Government verifcation of authenticity of the supports, the way of since the decisions that the citizenship has taken can controverting the technical reports, and in general the even represent a threat to the activities of exploiting of way of guaranteeing the due process in all the stages hydrocarbon in the country, and hence, to comprometer of its execution has been object of debates either in the the obtaining of resources for the Colombian State that administrative as well as in the judicial areas. We make a comes from this source. special emphasis on the fact that facing the competences of the National Civil Registry in the matter, it has always In the six processes that the carrying out of electoral been acted according to the law and with regulation that events have involved, the National Civil Registry has it demands. delivered the pre-counting results in maximum times of 67 minutes with the 100%of the transmitted tables, as it is shown in the following table:
Table N.° 6. Times of precounting in the Mechanisms of participation carried out up to June of 2017.
DEPARTMENT / CORPORATION / NO. DATE HOUR 100% LAST BULLETIN MUNICIPALITY MECHANISM
Ocaña / Norte de 1 Revocation Mayor 21st of May 2017 16:54 10 Santander
2 El Copey / Cesar Revocation Mayor 21st of May 2017 16:47 8
3 Cumaral / Meta Mining Consultation 4th of June 2017 17:07 8
4 San Benito de Abab / Sucre Revocation Mayor 4th of June 2017 17:01 8
Source: National Civil Registry
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 13 Additionally, the declaratories of the results of the regulated in the law and chosen by the presidents of the scrutiny of the mentioned mechanisms of direct three Superior Courts of the country. participation have granted in all the opportunities the same day in which the voting events were carried out. It is appropriate to refer to this respect, facing what The previous information leads us to conclude that either the Honorable Constitutional Court established in the the legislation as well as the trust in the National Civil judgement C – 230 A of 2008, making an analysis of the Registry, has generated a greater demand for the citizen modifcation that brought the article 15 of the Legislative participation, with which the democracy and the political Act 01 to the article 266 of the CPC, its reason to exist and culture of the State have been the most strengthened the debates that resulted in the Congress of the Republic ones. We consider that the trust in the Entity is a capital in the approval of the text of such act, starting from that is owed to the autonomy and independence shown which it can be concluded that the constituent derived mainly in the validity of the 1991 Constitution, which had the intention of guaranteeing that the technical and besides rising to the constitutional rank the electoral operational functions that are a responsibility of the organization, it introduced adjustments that have National Civil Registry were at margin of the politizing armored the impartiality of the institution. in aras de hacer prevalecer the electoral function in charge of the citizenship and guaranteeing the adequate This autonomy has been strengthened with the passing exercise of this manisfestation of its political rights, as it of the time, mainly with the 2003 reform, which had as its effectively has been made facing the new challenges that objective to despolitizar the position of the National Civil it has assumed in matter of direction and organization of Registrar, establishing for his election a contest of merits the mechanisms of direct participation.
Committee of Electoral Follow up – Cumaral - Meta
14 Electoral World Magazine // January 2018 THE AUTONOMY AS BUDGET TO STRENGTHEN AND TO GUARANTEE THE POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
CONCLUSION Until now it is clear that the work of the Congress, according to the general interest and in pro of the direct The Colombian institutional structure has evolved democracy, has allowed to strengthen the pluralism and according to the needs of the country, gathering in only to materialize the faculty that the citizens have of taking one unit, the National Civil Registry, the functions of part in the decision making that affect them as members identifcation and registry, together with the electoral of the society. ones. Although it is true that this institutional design obeys to historical reasons, the result has been positive Likewise, the constitutional control, of which the as the political responsibility has been established in Constitutional Court is in charge, has contributed to the a public employee and it is not dispersed in a college construction of a more active and participating society. body. Later on, and with the objective of strengthening the nature of the worker that is detached from the party Likewise, the autonomy of the organs that are part of interests, a system of designation of the National Civil the electoral organization, deepen in great manner the Registrar was established through contest and of defnite trust and credibility in the institutions, being this the decision of the Presidents of the Superior Courts. guarantee of an effective exercise of the political rights. The freedom of the modern ones, in terms of constant, The results of the entity allow to confrm that the which is, the security of the enjoyment of the rights, can increase of the initiatives of direct political participation only be guaranteed in electoral matter, through which the is achieved with institutions that enjoy autonomy in the same author called “neutral power”, or, in other words, fulfllment of their constitutional functions. the power detached from the traditional division of the public power, detached from the interests. The constitutional architecture of the mechanisms of citizen participation is not concluded yet, and it constitutes a continuum that engages the activity of the legislator and of the Constitutional Court.
Bibliography
• A.A.V.V. Direct Democracy in Latin America. Prometeo Books. Buenos Aires. 2008. • AA.VV. ABC of the Law 1757 of 2015. Statute of the democratic participation in Colombia. Administrative Department of the Public Function. 31st of May of 2016. • A.A.V.V. Mechanisms of political and citizen participation in America and Europe. National Electoral Council. International Seminar. April of 2009. • A.A.V.V. Challenges of the democracy and of the citizen participation. Hanns Seidel Foundation and University of Rosario. 2011.
• Constitutional Court. Colombia. Judgement C – 179 of 2002. • Constitutional Court. Colombia. Judgement C – 230A of 2008. • Constitutional Court. Colombia. Judgement C – 379 of 2016.
• Marshall Barberan, Pablo. The popular sovereignty as basis of the state order and as constitutional principle. Magazine of Law of the Pontifcal Catholic University of Valparaiso XXXV (Valparaiso, Chile, 2010, 2nd Semester). pages 245 – 286.
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 15 THE OPENING OF THE SYSTEM OF POSTULATIONS IN PANAMA AFTER THE LAW 29 OF THE 29TH OF MAY OF 2017
Juan Carlos Pérez Cortés Panama
Assitant of the Magistrate frst vicepresident. He obtained his B.Sc. Degree in Law and Political Sciences from the University of Panama. From the Specialized University of the Americas he obtained his Master´s degree in Electoral Studies. He has carried out intensive post-degree studies from the Toledo University Castilla – La Mancha in Spain; also, from the Buenos Aires University in Argentina, and from the George Washington College of Law of the American University in the United States of America. Since the year 2001 he has worked in the Electoral Tribunal of Panama. There he has worked al Legal Advisor, Legal Assistant of the Vice President and Vocal Magistrate. He has also been the Sub Director of the Civil Registry and Second Penal Electoral Judge (Substitute). He has represented the Electoral Tribunal in diverse missions of electoral observation. He also participated as specialist in electoral justice and controversy resolution in the Electoral Observation Mission of the Organization of American States in the 2016 Costa Rica local elections.
On the past 29th of May of 2017, the Executive Organ We could talk about citizen participation, either if it is passed the Law 29 through which the Electoral Code was organized or individual, but there also exist the possibility amended, constituting in this way in the ffth electoral of an oxygenation to our system of political parties and reform of political consensus, whose origin is in the of free postulation candidacies, that under the protection Electoral Tribunal together with the National Commission of the previous legislation was very restrictive and it of Electoral Reforms, being this last one the organization hindered the addition of new political actors. that gathers the main political actors of the country. The Political Constitution of the Republic of Panama One of the fundamental aspects that the reform dealt defnes our political system as party structured, with with was the theme of the system of parties and of the options to free postulation candidacies. However, the free postulation candidacies, looking to generate a greater last plural-party election per se was the one of 1999, participation of the society in the elections, through where 10 political parties participated. From that date organizations or through individual actions. on, the number of political parties in an election has been between 5 and 6, without counting the alliances that these Regarding this, deep modifcations were made to the ones make among themselves, which reduces the electoral requirements for the constitution of political parties, as proposal to not more than 3 candidates with options. well as the threshold of subsistence of these ones, after a general election, and the percentages of necessary popular On the other side, we state that even though the free backup for the acceptance of a free postulation candidacy. postulation candidacies were gathered in our electoral legislation since 1972, they were limited to municipal What is the message that we can obtain after these positions until 2004, when the constitutional reform modifcations? of that year allowed the legislative candidacy through free postulation and, fnally, in the year 2009 when the
16 Electoral World Magazine // January 2018 The Opening of the System of Postulations in Panama after the Law 29 of the 29th of May of 2017
Full members of the Supreme Court of Justice declared However, the measure did not cause any effects, due to unconstitutional the monopoly that existed in the political the fact that since 2002 the new political parties have not parties for the presidential nomination. been able to survive after their frst election.
Now, what are the legal reforms to which we can refer in This situation, where a clear deformation to the this article? constitutional mandate was observed, regarding the existence of a multi-party system, led the Electoral First, we will refer to the legal modifcations that were Tribunal to propose the reduction of the number of carried out to the system of political parties, specifcally members, and consequently, the threshold of subsistence, to the theme of its constitution and subsistence. to a 2%, which is something unusual in our democracy.
In regards to this, it was established the reduction to half In fact, once the electoral reform was approved, 2 in the number of citizens that had to participate in the stages formation political parties went to submit their paperwork of the constitution of the political party. Also, it is easier of fnal recognition, since they already had registered the now to register their members, being this aspect the most new fgure demanded by the electoral Law. To be more infuential and important one. specifc, the number went down to approximately 75 thousand citizens, to a little over 32 thousand. The Political Constitution has an upper limit for the necessary number of members in order to achieve the We can fnd a similar story in the free postulation constitution of a political party, being it of 5% of the valid candidacies, which were seen as an open rivalry to the votes of the last presidential election, leaving in the hands political party system, and due to this they were legally of the electoral Law the possibility of establishing the punished for being almost impossible to be executed. exact number without reaching the threshold.
Regarding this, our electoral history since 1978, when it verifed the elimination of the registry of the political party, decreed by the military dictatorship in 1968, has been variant in regards to have or not a multiparty system.
In this sense, with the Electoral Code in its original version of 1983, the number to constitute a political party was of 3% of the valid votes, fgure that in 1988 went up to 3.5%, which doubtless generated a totally open system in regards to political parties. However, the reality showed that the great majority were political parties only in the document papers, that the dictatorship used to control the The approved electoral reforms allow to oxygenate the system electoral corporations in the event. of political parties and of free postulation candidacies. In the former government period it was more restrictive and it hindered the entry of new political actors. Under this optic, where the political parties were not representative entities, but instead, manipulation instruments, a somehow paradox decision was made, once the country was in democracy and it was the one of The same as with the political parties, the free postulation closing the system of political parties when the number candidacies are sustained in the citizen support, but of members went up to the upper limit established in the registered to the local nature of the position to which National Constitution, which was of 5%. Immediately he/her aspire. In other words, different from a political this had an effect in all the political parties, hence between party that can gather members in any place of the national 1994 and 1999 at least 9 of them disappeared. territory, a free postulation candidacy can only obtain the backup signatures in the electoral circumscription where With the start of the new millennium, and taking into he/she wants to be postulated. consideration the results of the measure adopted in 1993, it was decided to improve the conditions for the However, until the year 2002, the number of necessary constitution and subsistence of the political parties, since members for the acknowledgment of a free postulation with the threshold of 5% only 1 new political party had candidacy was of 5%, in other words, that while the been able to survive in its frst election and due to this, the political party system would migrate from an open fgure of members was lowered to 4%. position to a closed one, and after a lightly open one, the
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 17 we refer to an opening to the entry of new political actors and with aims to their consolidation later on. the last plural-party election In fact, by lowering the percentages for the per se was the one of 1999, acknowledgement of the political parties and the free where 10 political parties postulation candidacies, the reaction will be the one of generating a greater participation of options in the participated. From that date on, political vision, taking into consideration that the times the number of political parties for the next general elections do not allow the fulfllment in an election has been between of the paperwork for the conformation of a political party. 5 and 6, without counting the The immediate facilities granted to the free postulation alliances that these ones make candidacies, especially the timing, will allow many citizens to become active in an immediate way for the among themselves, which paperwork of adherent gathering. However, our electoral reduces the electoral proposal Law keeps a limit regarding the number of candidates that can be recognized, in three ones for each position, to not more than 3 candidates independently if the amount of aspirants that achieved to with options. comply with the requirements are larger or not.
In this last aspect, we make a reminder that this reserve was declared constitutional by the Full members of the Supreme Court of Justice in the failure of the 28th of April of 2016. system of free postulation was static, with norms directed to not promoting this option of political participation of Maybe for the 2024 electoral tournament, we can have the citizen. an overview a lot broader in regards to a multi-party system, since already the political organizations will Nonetheless, starting from the 2004 constitutional reform, have the necessary time to fnd a way for the recognition when the option of free postulation legislative candidacies paperwork, but even more important is the fact that the was allowed, and later on, with the possibility of the same threshold of subsistence of 2% will be applied in 2019, mechanism for the presidential candidacy, the electoral and this will serve to determine if the new legal proposal Law started to think of ways to make more feasible the will allow the continuity of the political parties beyond exercise of the political right. their frst electoral event.
With the Law 54 of 2012 and recently with the Law 29 of Expressed in other words, the multi-party system in the present year, the percentage of members were reduced Panama will be submitted to test in the year 2019, substantially, leaving it to 1% the number of members when the electorate will be able to decide once again if that a free postulation candidacy must be backed up by; it endorses the traditional parties or if it allows that the and in 2% for the rest of the candidacies. political parties can keep their political validity and in this way, to consolidate themselves facing the 2024 elections. Likewise, the term was broadened for the gathering of the signatures of almost two years and the state economical Likewise, in matter of free postulation, it can be determined support that the free postulation candidates will receive, if the fgure gets to be consolidated as a new electoral once they are formally recognized by the electoral option in Panama, or simply as a very limited space so organism, was signifcantly improved. that the citizens can look for some type of window to call the attention of the political parties. After these considerations, what can we expect of the system of postulations and political participation in Let us remember that it does not have to be a new fgure. Panama? The free postulation is with us since 1972, and one of the great criticisms is the fact that the great majority of the We can talk of short and middle term results in matter candidates, badly called independent who use the option, of political parties, and in the short term, we refer to free once elected, they register as members of political parties. postulation candidacies. Nonetheless, in both sceneries
18 Electoral World Magazine // January 2018 The Opening of the System of Postulations in Panama after the Law 29 of the 29th of May of 2017
With the reforms approved in the National Assembly, the multi-party system in Panama will be tested in the 2019 when the electorate will decide again if they endorse the traditional parties or if they allow that the political projects can keep their political validity and in this way, to consolidate themselves for the 2024 elections.
The stated previously is fundamental, since by freeing Only the elections will tell us if the electorate will accept the candidacy system, including the free postulation, or not a multitude of electoral offers. the system per se is proven in regards to its capacity of assimilating new actors and new trends in politics, and We consider that the electoral Law always can give way once and forever, give us the necessary input to evaluate to participation, and in this sense, the liberation of the our political system. system favors the inclusion and the use of the electoral system by the actors and forces that want to get involved We can expect that the system flls the ballot with political in the political arena of the Nation, which should always options, either through new political parties or free be the objective of every democracy, the equitable and postulation candidates. However, all the electoral theory equal participation of everybody, with the objective that is submitted to the electoral event, which is what allows we all can become more involved in the social and political us to sustain the reality that electorally surrounds our project of the country, which is in itself the meeting of country. everybody in pacifc coexistence.
The conditions are given so that the new leaderships can overcome the traditional barriers that a closed system of political parties and free postulation candidacies imposed.
once the electoral reform was approved, 2 in formation political parties went to submit their paperwork of final recognition, since they already had registered the new figure demanded by the electoral Law. To be more specific, the number went down to approximately 75 thousand citizens, to a little over 32 thousand.
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 19 THE EVOLUTION OF THE ECUADORIAN ELECTORAL SYSTEM FROM A CONSTITUTIONAL PERSPECTIVE “The electoral systems constantly evolve, adjusting to the social and political reality of each country”.
Ricardo Andrade
Ecuador
He is Ecuadorian. He is also a lawyer with a B. Sc. degree in Jurisprudence from the National University of Loja. He is postulating to obtain a Ph. D. degree in Law from the University of Buenos Aires. He has a Master´s degree in Civil Law and Procedural Law from the Loja Particular Technical University. He is a specialist in Public Contracting and the Modernization of the State, from the Simon Bolivar Andean University. He also has a University Certifcation in Notarial and Registrar Law from the Ecological Poly-technical School. Currently, he is a guest professor of the Institute of National Top Studies and a professor of the Loja National, Particular Technical and Indo-America Universities. He is a judicial staff of the Labor, Childhood and Youth Hall of the Loja Provincial Court of Justice. He is also a Secretary of the Loja Electoral Provincial Delegation. He is also a Member and president of the Juridical Commission of the Loja Electoral Provincial Board. Besides, he is the director of the Zamora Chinchipe Provincial Delegation, and Advisor of the Financial Administrative General Coordination. Currently, he is general coordinator of Juridical Advising and judicial procurator of the president of the Electoral Function in the National Electoral Council of Ecuador. He has contributed with several publications in matter of Constitutional, Electoral Law and Public Contracting. He is also a speaker in themes related to the Electoral Law and Political Participation.
The present article has as its main purpose to provide Finally, the intention of this article is to generate a healthy knowledge to the readers in regards to the evolution of the debate, in what refers to the conformation of the electoral Ecuadorian electoral system in the last ten years, together authority in Ecuador, and the need to link actions together with a new constitutional perspective. Explaining the with the political organizations with aims to an ordered legal procedures that are followed in Ecuador, previous to and deliberant citizen participation. a new constitutional reform, and determining the citizen participation as a strategic axis of the state sovereignty. Development:
Besides, we cannot talk of an electoral system without Making an analysis of the Ecuadorian electoral system from considering the existing political situation and the will of a constitutional vision, initially it could be understood, that the legislator of reaching a consensus with the citizenship, what happened in our country is simply an institutional understanding as electoral system the set of principles change and not a modifcation of the electoral system, and norms linked with the electoral processes. but that would be to take too superfcially the current
20 Electoral World Magazine // January 2018 THE EVOLUTION OF THE ECUADORIAN ELECTORAL SYSTEM FROM A CONSTITUTIONAL PERSPECTIVE constitution, and not to consider the substantial elements referendum, where its approval required at least half plus that initially motivated the structural modifcation and one of the valid votes. Hence, it is evidenced the approval the consequences that were generated in the principles, of the Ecuadorian people of having an electoral function norms, regulations, technical procedures by means of with new regulations, but above all, that the political which the electors express their political will in votes that system that is characterized by the great infuence of the at the same time become positions or public power. political organizations can pass to a citizen control and empowering. Emanating from the return to democracy in the year 1978, the Ecuadorian electoral system has suffered some In this context, the structure of the Ecuadorian state power modifcations, mainly due to the political instability suffers a great substantial modifcation in comparison with and crisis that the country lived from the decades of the the traditional structure in Latin American countries; since nineties and two thousand, where the governments did the distribution of power divided in three main functions not fulfll the periods for which they were elected, due to which are the executive, the legislative and the judicial the social insurgencies and political conficts. ones, can be substantially modifed with the creation of two new functions such as, the one of Transparency and This caused that the diverse political organizations, in Social Control and the Electoral one. their campaign offers, could see the state re-structuring and the strengthening of the basic rights, as one of the The intention of the Ecuadorian legislator of changing approaches to struggle, since in the electoral campaign the classic structure of the State, was mainly in order to period, it was very common to listen to the convocation achieve a citizenisation of the non-visible powers such as to a constituent assembly as one of the most wanted the citizen participation and the electoral activity, since solutions in order to stop the crisis. rather than giving status of state functions, they grant to them priority activities, as the case of the Function Starting from the year two thousand and seven, with a of Transparency in order to carry out the contests of new government, it was convoked a national constituent merit and opposition in order to designate fundamental assembly, which was formed with 130 assembly members: authorities such as controller of the State, procurator, 100 provincial ones, 24 national, and 6 from the immigrants general prosecutor, ombudsman, as well as to members of Latin America, the United States of America, Europe, of the National Electoral Council and of the Electoral Asia and Oceania. These ones were elected on the 30th Contentious Tribunal and even the superintendents. In of September of 2007 and started their functions on the what it has to do with the Electoral Function, it grants to 30th of November of that same year. The constitutional the National Electoral Council as its main function the one text was approved by 94 assembly members on the 24th of organizing, directing, surveilling and guaranteeing the of July of 2008 and such assembly was offcially closed on electoral processes, but also new fgures of participation the 25th of October of 2008. such as the mechanisms of direct democracy, hence, the
It is appropriate to mention that the constitutional text was approved on the 28th of September of 2008 by means of a referendum with the 63.93% of the votes, which implied that on the 20th of October of that same year, It is appropriate to mention the Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador could be that the constitutional text published in the offcial registry, hence, was into force for every person in the Ecuadorian territory from that date was approved on the 28th of on. September of 2008 by means of
We should consider and clarify that the modifcations a referendum with the 63.93% that refer to the state structure have a triple legitimacy. of the votes, which implied that Firstly, it is worth to point out that the way of convoking on the 20th of October of that to a Constituent Assembly is through the Popular Consultation, where the will of the people is manifested same year, the Constitution of due to its viability. The second legitimacy is established the Republic of Ecuador could be from the simple fact that the constituent assembly members are elected through an election process. And the published in the official registry... third legitimacy is born from the obligatory nature that the constitutional text has of passing from an approval
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 21 institution stops having a perspective exclusively of Another one of the objectives of the constituent was the carrying our electoral processes, and passes to strengthen citizenisation of the electoral function, since its structure the democratic system of the country through a guarantor changes substantially. Previously, the conformation of vision. It is worth to mention also that it has the legal the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (maximum administrative faculty of sanctioning the electoral offenders. In relation and jurisdictional organ), was of seven members, which to the Electoral Contentious Tribunal, with the objective are designed by the seven political organizations most of complying with the basic guarantee of the due process voted in the last elections. Currently, the conformation and with emphasis of the Right to resort to a superior, of the National Electoral Council and of the Electoral the judgment or resolution in all the procedures in which Contentious Tribunal would take place through a public it is decided regarding the citizen rights, they grant as contest of merits and opposition; the frst one to select 5 their main attribution, to know and to solve the electoral resources against the acts of the National Electoral Council, of the electoral organisms, being detached from the electoral organisms even the litigious issues of the political organizations. We should mention the ...it is necessary to attribution that this electoral organ has, of knowing in differentiate the process of consultation, the processes of destitution of authorities of de-centralized autonomous governments and the selecting the members of legal power of sanctioning to all the citizens that commit the Electoral Contentious electoral offenses. Tribunal, since besides being Besides, it is necessary to point out that one of the main Ecuadorian citizens and purposes of the constituent was to determine with clarity the administrative and the jurisdictional activities; hence, enjoying their political rights, an institution in charge of the technical, operational and must be lawyers with 10 procedural aspects is created, such is the case of the National Electoral Council, and another institution in years of experience in the order to exclusively solve the jurisdictional aspects such professional ambit. as the Electoral Contentious Tribunal.
Articulation of the National Electoral Council with the 24 provinces of Ecuador. Touristic attractions in Ecuador
electoral advisors and the second one to select 5 contentious continent, showing that this one has as its main function judges. Hence, the current institutional structure implies the one of promoting the civic democratic culture of the a citizen participation in the selection processes where the people and will have academic and plural objectives. postulation was open to any Ecuadorian citizen that enjoys of his/her full political rights. However, it is necessary It is important to point out the legal process that is to differentiate the process of selecting the members of developed in our country in order to reform or amend the Electoral Contentious Tribunal, since besides being the Constitution, since any modifcation of state structure, Ecuadorian citizens and enjoying their political rights, such as the case of the electoral function, only can take must be lawyers with 10 years of experience in the place through the constituent assembly, or through professional ambit. a referendum. In the present case, there exist a new constitution that even, from its denomination, already It is worth to mention that in the new structure of the suffers a fundamental change; it stops being political, electoral function, with a constitutional rank, it is created in order to center in the social justice, in the validity an Electoral Political, Research, Training and Promotion of the human rights and their guarantees, having as Institute, the only one with this rank in the American its background that fact of becoming adequate to the tendencies of the new world constitutionalism.
National Electoral Council of Ecuador, maximum organ of electoral administration.
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 23 Hence, it is absolutely clear that the Ecuadorian electoral What it has been presented makes a short explanation system, suffers a substantial modifcation starting from of the last substantial modifcation that the Ecuadorian the new Constitution, which although it is clear that electoral system suffers. However, it is still to be more an institutional re-structuring is born, it has a scope of discussed and debated the new formation of the electoral effective mechanisms in order make others comply with function in what refers to the citizen participation and the constitutional rights and guarantees. However, it the need of strengthening the involvement of the political is necessary to point out that other components of the organizations in the strengthening of the electoral electoral system, such as the form of list, the methods of institutional structure. adjudication of positions and the procedures of manual voting have not been modifed, except for the electoral circumscriptions, which are indeed created for certain provinces of Ecuador.
Conclusions
1. The change generated in the state structure in Ecuador, through a new political Constitution, has as directly proportional relationship with the evolution of the Ecuadorian electoral system, sacrifcing the involvement of the political organizations with the participation of the non-grouped society.
2. The Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador, that is in force since October of 2008, besides generating a structural change, establishes a new electoral dynamic, through the implementation of the popular consultation, the referendum and the revocation of mandate, as main mechanisms of direct democracy.
3. The division of the administrative activities and the jurisdictional ones allow a better management of the electoral processes, generating specifc expertise and allowing that the legal principle of the double conformation can be fulflled.
4. The Ecuadorian constitutional letter, guarantor for excellence, allows that the administration of the electoral justice can be seen from a wider vision, and it allows that the political or participation rights have more impact in the citizenship, from the view point of constructing a participating society and democratic State.
Speech of the B. Sc. Ricardo Andrade. Organic structure and legal reforms to the code of the democracy.
24 Electoral World Magazine // January 2018 Participation of women facing the political harassment and violence
LORENA GONZÁLEZ ORTEGA
Panama
She is administrative and legal coordinator of De Frias & Co. She has a B. Sc. degree in Law and Political Sciences, and an International Graduate Certifcation in Leadership and Electoral Strategies from the Latin University of Panama. She has taken courses and seminars on Human Rights, Political Participation of Women, Public Policies, Citizenship of the Women, Violence Against Women, and Equity of Gender. She is the former president of the National Forum of Women from Political Parties (FONAMUPP). She is the Vice president of the National Council of the Woman (CONAMU). She is member of the Board of Directors of the National Institute of the Woman (INAMU). Besides, she is member of the National Commission of Electoral Reforms (CNRE) of the Electoral Tribunal. Publications: Parity Democracy, Electoral World Magazine, Electoral Tribunal of Panama. Acknowledgements: Leader Women for Panama, 2016, University of Panama.
emale and male readers, I decided to present to One of the ways in which this situation is expressed is you this theme because although in our country in the absence of conditions of equity in the political (Panama), we do not count with formal registries participation between men and women, very similar to over cases of political harassment and political the implementation of measures of affrmative action violence against women, I do have references tending to achieve this purpose. In general terms, in Fof political women that have been victims of this type of the countries of Latin America that adopted quotas of violence, which is not exclusively exerted against women, gender it is possible to affrm that this measure has been but it affects them most and puts in risk that more women effcient to increase the access of the women to positions participate in politics as candidates for popular election of citizen representation; although it had not been enough positions. to generate conditions of equity in the electoral contest of the women in the public space and the greater conscience Knowing that in our democracies, it is essential to of this social group to participate in the electoral count with the participation of more women that are competition, brought together a phenomenon known as postulated to popular election positions, they exert top political harassment and political violence, due to gender level government, judicial and electoral posts, to achieve that continues obstructing the development of inclusive the balance that it is obtained by taking advantage and democracies in terms of gender. potentiating the competences, skills, sensibility and intelligence of the women in the decision making. Then In the last twenty years the world has witnessed the great we must guarantee that the political participation of transformations in relation to a greater equity of gender the women be in conditions of equality, in equity and for the positions of popular election. This has been guarantee of security. promoted by local and global campaigns that show that a
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 25 greater equity of gender in politics is linked to numerous These experiences enrich the international discussions positive results for the democracy and the society in since these debates have not taken place so broadly general. Those who support these campaigns argument in other regions. However, information from other that a more equitable and equal political representation countries, as well as contributions from diverse academic not only is fair (the women represent ffty per cent of the disciplines, also enrich the debate in Latin America, population and they should occupy half the positions of outstanding the ubiquity of this problem and providing power), but also that it increases the possibilities that the greater conceptual precision to the debates. The political interests and concerns of all the female and male citizens violence and the harassment against women describe be refected in the public policies. This, at the same time, behaviors specifcally directed against women with the promote a greater citizen participation and a greater trust purpose that they give up politics, pressing them so that in the public institutions. they resign to be candidates to a political-public position in particular. In Latin America this concept appeared frst These messages have been heard in the great majority of in Bolivia in the year 2000, by female town councilors who the countries of the world, that have adopted measures met in a Seminar in the Deputy Chamber. with the purpose to elect more women, in particular through quotas of gender. However, each time it is more The political harassment and violence still has not evident that the strategies such as the quotas of gender become a priority theme of research and denounce for the do not completely level the political playground. The majority of the female movements nor for the design of “generalized” political environments in which these public policies of equity of gender. The countries where laws are adopted, for instance, can make diffcult for the this problem is getting relevance are: Bolivia, Costa Rica, women to be nominated as candidates and to exert their Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico (either at authorities once they are elected. the local as well as at national level of the government, although with greater intensity in the frst one). It results The initiatives such as the quotas also can cause violent interesting that except for El Salvador, it has to do with the resistance and reactions (backlash) against the female countries of Latin America in which the political parity of political integration. These reactions go from explicit gender has been incorporated to the electoral normative acts of violence and harassment, until the sexism in the or it is a theme that is pending in the agenda of certain communications means and the social networks, that social and political sectors. are directed against the women for being women and have the purpose of forcing them to withdraw from the political life.
These actions represent a very serious threat for the democracy since they hinder the women from carrying out their political campaigns or fulflling their obligations with the positions. In this sense, the electoral processes are annulled through the intimidation and the coercion. As a result, each time it is more possible to find The problem of the “violence against women in politics”, as these actions are known, have increased the concern of evidence of the violence organizations of the international civil society around the against women in politics in world. However, this phenomenon has received more attention in Latin America, where numerous actors, such the countries of the region. as the elected women, newspersons, professors and so on, At the same time, it is and even electoral tribunals have looked to visualize this problem. These organizations look to combat the violence possible to find numerous and the political harassment with several strategies to solutions, including laws to protect the rights of the women to the participation and to safeguard the integrity of the electoral processes. As a criminalize these conducts. result, each time it is more possible to fnd evidence of the violence against women in politics in the countries of the region. At the same time, it is possible to fnd numerous solutions, including laws to criminalize these conducts.
26 Electoral World Magazine // January 2018 PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN FACING THE POLITICAL HARASSMENT AND VIOLENCE
The political harassment and violence is a form of violence career in politics, but also for the citizenship and academic of gender committed against active persons in the public community in general. life, it is a fundamental barrier for the participation of the women in the decision making. It was identifed as The political women are the ones that are most directly a priority theme during a session of strategic planning, affected, but studies which have been carried out by carried out by a group of female and male delegates organizations of the civil society suggest that incidents of during the meeting of the Group of Parliament Women violence leave the women demoralized, they are excluded in 2014 in Mexico City. This violence reinforces the roles from the spaces where the decisions are made, or make of the traditional genders and the political structures the women abandon politics after serving lesser periods. dominated by men, which undermine the quality of the In Bolivia, for instance, forty-eight per cent (48%) of the democracy, the development and the human rights. women that left political positions in 2010, reported to have been victims of this type of violence. (Acobol 2012). The political violence is a generalized problem from the local levels as well as the national parliaments. The In contexts where the women have a minor tendency to violence against women in politics each time is more consider a career in politics, these experiences can, at the recognized around the world, but specially in Latin same time, reduce the political ambitions of the women in America, as an emerging tactic to hinder the political general. These diffculties evidence existing challenges in participation of the women as female candidates and regards to the political participation of the women, and offcially elected ones. The concept has been defned by remind us that the access of the women to politics is not academic and activist women of the region, mainly in easily solved with the introduction of quotas of gender terms of physical and psychological violence. Including and other tactics to empower women in politics; it is data and research around the world, in several academic essential the surveillance and auditing of the fulfllment disciplines, to propose to expand this concept and to of the quotas of gender in the electoral lists. However, include two additional forms of violence; economical the identifed actions in the region also represent a and symbolic. These forms of violence, are already in fundamental violation of the principles of equity and an implicit way in many of the existing defnitions of non-discrimination that are part of the legal frameworks violence against women in politics, but has not been around the world, standing out the deep implications of theorized as such. To pay attention to these problems is these actions in the democratic values. important not only for the women that look to develop a
Forum “Towards a Society in Equity of Gender”, that looks to build a humanity with equality of opportunities. Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 27 The constitutions of more than 130 countries, for instance, explicitly guarantee the equality between men and women. Even more, the Convention over the Elimination of All the forms of Discrimination against the Women, The violence against women 1979, signed by 188 countries, Article 7, states: that the in politics each time is more governments “will take all the appropriate measures to eliminate the discrimination against the woman in the recognized around the political and public life of the country” and, in particular, world, but specially in Latin guaranteeing, in equal conditions with the men, the right to “Participate in the formulation of the government America, as an emerging politics and in the execution of these ones, and to occupy tactic to hinder the political public positions and to exert all the public functions of all the governmental plans”. The efforts to block the participation of the women inclusion of the women for being women, can be framed as female candidates and as a fundamental violation to the political rights of the women. officially elected ones.
Inter American Convention to prevent, sanction and eradicate the violence against the woman (Belem do Para, 1994).
“Article 4: Every woman has the right to recognition, enjoyment, exercise and protection of all the human rights and to the freedoms consecrated by the regional Finally, the democracy is threatened when the intimidation and international tools over human rights. The rights and the coercion is used to avoid that the male and female include, among others… The right to have equality of public staffs comply with the tasks for the positions that access to the public functions of their country and to have been elected and nominated. The violence against participate in the public affairs, including the decision the women in politics not only threat the national and making”. international commitments for the decision making to be balanced in general terms, but it also affects the integrity “Article 5: Every woman will exert freely and fully of the democracy as such. her civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights and will count with the total protection of those rights The initiatives to do money raising in politics affect an consecrated in the regional and international tools opportunity to counteract the economic violence during over human rights. The States that are Members the candidacy phase. Countries in several regions have recognize that the violence against the woman hinders established incentives for the parties that nominate or and annuls the exercise of those rights.” elect more women. A recent example of this is Chile, where fnancial bonus were introduced to elect women The violence against the women in politics is also a threat as part of a package of electoral reforms approved at the against the democratic values. The cases evaluated by beginning of 2015. the Committee over the Human Rights of the Parliaments of the Inter Parliament Union, are very similar to the The symbolic violence seems to be one of the most acts of violence against the women in politics, and this common forms of violence against the women in politics, suggests that these acts can even be qualifed as violations at the same time that it is the most natural one. To to the human rights, representing a threat either against visualize and accept the women as political actors can be the citizenship as well as for the integrity of the political diffcult, given the rooting of the social norms of gender system as such. Besides, international organizations and in many societies. national governments recognize the need of adopting or revising the legislation over the violence against the Within the legislative institutions, a promising path is to women. The United Nations have promoted the adoption promote what the Inter Parliament Union calls “sensible and the fulfllment of laws that approach and punish this parliaments to gender”, re-thinking practices and norms form of violence.
28 Electoral World Magazine // January 2018 PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN FACING THE POLITICAL HARASSMENT AND VIOLENCE
. These difficulties evidence existing challenges in regards to the political participation of the women, and remind us that the access of the women to politics is not easily solved with the introduction of quotas of gender and other tactics to empower women in politics...
of the parliaments, and the politics from a perspective of need to develop an approach so complete, nonetheless, is gender. Besides establishing politics against the sexual only evident in its totality when an expanded defnition harassment and introducing politics for a better balance of this concept is used. The perspective proposed must between the labor and family life, these changes imply to be aligned with the inductive theory of this phenomenon create spaces inside the legislative buildings to show and that has been developed in recent years. Academic and to recognize the women inside the politics, fghting the activist women enlist practices of economic and symbolic tendency of including only statues and portraits of men. violence within their defnitions of political harassment and violence in Latin America, but they are incorporated To mobilize the traditional press and the social networks, inside the broad conception of the psychological violence. fnally, can represent a very powerful means to expose A revised and more precise vocabulary refects better the and combat the violence against the women in politics. broad literature over “violence” at the same time that it Financed programs for the Agency of International opens new opportunities to understand and articulate this Development of the United States in several countries problem, which at the same time allows to develop more promote the training in gender for newswomen and they effective interventions to make a more inclusive politics recruit female reporters in the sections of politics as a dual for the women, giving access as well as voice inside the strategy to improve the sensibility in the media covering, political institutions. including a greater attention to the acts of violence against the women in politics. Facing this emerging phenomenon in Latin America, in Panama and in other countries of the region it is necessary The social networks can be especially powerful so that the the conceptualization of political harassment and violence citizenship, in an individual and collective way, expose against women, to promote the denounce to detect the acts of violence and obtain the support for projects that cases and to achieve to have statistic fgures, to legislate empower the women in politics. Training programs for to that respect, to implement action plans as it is proposed female candidates can be focused on how to diminish by ParlAmericas (Action plans of Parl Americas, 2014- the vulnerability and to answer in an effective way to the 2015 and framework norm of political harassment and online attacks. violence) with Promissory practices:
In summary, the legal initiatives are only one of many • To back up campaigns of consciousness to make potential strategies that can be used to combat the visible the harassment to the women in politics so problem of violence against the women in politics. The that all forms of violence of gender (and the threat
The violence against the women in politics is also a threat against the democratic values.
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 29 The B. Sc. Yara Campo, Myrtha Varela Duran, Lorena González and members of the organism that participated in the Forum “Towards a Society in Equity of Gender”.
of violence) turns to be socially unacceptable and to • To adopt coordinated measures in the sectors of justice support the legal literacy in the area of the civil and and of health to guarantee immediate responses political rights. facing denounces and protection for the victims and their families. • To promote an early education and fundamental interventions in the rights to empower the girls and • To fnance programs of equality of men and women, to guarantee their economic, social and political to prioritize considerations such as the empirical development. evidence, the community knowledge and the complete participation of the women in the design, the implementation and the evaluation of the programs.
To apply multi-sectorial approaches for the prevention of the political harassment and of the political violence due to gender reasons To include the men in the empowering of the women in political at all levels • To establish effective sanctions in the case that it is pertinent that they are persuasive, applicable and • To promote the responsibility that the men have proportional to the infraction committed. in the defense of the equality of gender and in the combat of all forms of violence, including the political harassment.
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• To look for the expertise of organizations of the To create an environment that allows to present the civil society that have achieved important advances theme of political harassment and of political violence through campaigns that, led by men, teach other men in a public and parliament debate. to make decisions against the violence of gender. • To work together with the activist of the civil society • To use public platforms to demand the no violence to improve the inclusion of the violence spectrum that either in the public as well as in the private sphere, as affects the life of the women. well as the equitable distribution of the domestic task and caring responsibilities. • To propose or use national plans over violence against women to open spaces of political dialogue. • To encourage the male and female legislators to support the political participation of women offering • To use the media to denounce the political harassment to them orientation and access to spaces of decision or the political violence due to gender reasons and to making, as well as to express themselves against deviate the attention of the personal attributes of the the political harassment and political violence in the political women and to focus on their contributions to media and through other public platforms. the fundamental issues.
• To include in the public discourse, the frequency and the gravity of the political harassment and of the To make the political parties responsible for the equality political violence against the women in rural areas of gender. and in sub-national contexts.
• To provide fnancing, development of capacities • To collaborate with international and regional actors and opportunities of professional formation for the through forums such as the Mechanism of Follow women, either if they are female candidates or are up of the Convention of Belem do Para (MESECVI) occupying a public position to help them overcome the with the objective of achieving the political will barriers that they face by entering in political parties necessary to combat the political harassment and or by looking to occupy top leadership positions in the violence and to guarantee that these issues be the interior of the parties. taken into consideration in the activities of gathering information, control and evaluation in the Americas. • To carry out an exhaustive revision of the internal politics and to guarantee that there exist a formal protocol and a mechanism of application of norms to respond to cases of non-compliance of the To present policies, projects of law, or reforms on gender quota and of violence perpetrated inside the political harassment and violence. parliament precinct or by parliament men. • To use ratifed conventions over rights of women, • To strengthen the solidarity and the collaboration either national or regional ones, to support motions among parties through the participation in that criminalize all forms of violence of gender (for commissions, committees and party boards that instance, the CEDAW and the Convention of Belem provide continuity to the legislative work that foment de Para). the political participation of the women. • To participate in social networks and in organizations • To guarantee that the information over party that work in this theme from a legislative perspective politics be clear, accessible and that the language to with aims to generate tools such as the framework communicate be inclusive. law that is being currently developed by the Inter American Commission of Women (CIM). • To make that the political parties and the parliaments become comfortable work spaces for the parents by • To open a combination of civil, penal, electoral and offering services such as nursery schools in the place administrative paths to receive, research and respond and the institutionalization of certain policies such as to denounces of political harassment or violence in fexible work schedules and paid parental leaves.
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 31 such a way that it is adequate according to the local • To support continuous initiatives of formation over context (for instance, through the ombudsman offce, the sensibility of gender, particularly for providers the National Institute of the Woman, or a similar of services that have under their responsibility the organism). handling of cases of political harassment or political violence or the support to survivors. • To prioritize that it can be simple and safe to make a declaration and that the processes for the survivors that decide to present formal denounces be clear.
In summary, the legal initiatives are only one of many potential strategies that can be used to combat the problem of violence against the women in politics. The need to develop an approach so complete, nonetheless, is only evident in its totality when an expanded definition of this concept is used.
Bibliographic References: • Mona Lena Krook and Juliana Restrepo Sanín. (2016), Gender and Political Violence in Latin America, Debates and Solutions, (Volume XXIII) Washington, D.C. • Herrera, M, Arias, M and García, S. (2011), Political Hostility and Violence, Santo Domingo. Inter Parliament Union, ParlAmericas, Action Plan for Male and Female Parliament members, Prevention of the Political Harassment and of the Political Violence against Women, Period 2014-2015. Período 2014-2015
32 Electoral World Magazine // January 2018 THE ISSUE OF GENDER IN ELECTORAL MATTER IN THE REPUBLIC OF ARGENTINA
“The electoral right is the frst and most fundamental of the freedoms” . Juan B. Alberdi
Paula Suárez Argentina
She is a lawyer, and she received honor awards from the Salamanca University (Spain) and Pisa University (Italy), when she obtained her degree in Constitutional Law. She also has a Master´s degree in Electoral Law from the Castilla University in la Mancha, Spain; and she is currently doing her Ph.D. degree at the Buenos Aires University (UBA) in Argentina. She is also a professor in the Faculty of Law at the Buenos Aires University. She is member of the Argentina´s Association of Constitutional Law and of the Constitutional Justice University also in Argentine. Besides, she is Rapporteur of the National Electoral Chamber of Argentina. Also, she has been international observer of diverse electoral processes in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, (07/14/2013), El Salvador (03/09/2014 and 03/01/2015) and Norway (09/11/2017). She has also participated in more than eighty seminars, conferences and congresses inside the Argentine Republic and in more than ten of them overseas (Spain, Italy, Mexico, Brazil and Uruguay). She is the author of more than forty research articles and has had participation in collective works on themes of Constitutional Law and Political Sciences.
In the Republic of Argentina, the public policies in To this, it can be added that the National Electoral electoral matter over issues of gender have had a timid Chamber – as maximum authority in the matter – development by the political powers. This absence complied and complies with a relevant role through of concern or occupation may have to do with social- stating its position, as institutional guarantor of the real ideological order criteria, or for not being “opportune” its equality of opportunities between men and women for the introduction in the agenda or political debate in certain access to elective and party positions3, placing itself to the moments of our history. height of the new times that are being taking place in the Argentinean society as consequence of the protectionist This is not the case where in the last times, with greater wave of the Inter American system of Human Rights. emphasis since last year, people start to speak of “political parity”. Likewise, on the 27th of June of this year it was In order to contextualize the theme that occupies us, it is presented to the Senate of the Nation a report that reveals necessary to succinctly develop how the evolution of the the challenges for the parity of gender in the Argentinean right to the female suffrage has been – in its active and politics1. Such report was carried out by the Program passive phase – in the frame of the different historical, of the United Nations, UNO Women and International social-political and cultural contexts, and how this could IDEA2. 1 During that year, the provinces of Buenos Aires, Chubut, Salta and Neuquén regulated the parity of gender in the composition of the electoral lists, adding to them to the provinces of Santiago del Estero, Córdoba and Rio Negro, which have already done that between the years 2000 and 2002. 2 Report. “The political parity in Argentina: advances and challenges” (Mariana Caminotti; Natalia del Cogliano; contributions from Beatriz Llanos; José Incio; General Coordination of Alejandra García; Andrea Balzano. – 1st illustrated edition. – Buenos Aires: Program of the United Nations for the Development – PNUD; Lima: International IDEA; Panama: Organization of the United Nations. Women, 2017. Digital book, PDF). 3 Judgements CNE 1568/93; 1586/93; 18505/93; 1863/95; 1866/95; 1867/95; 1868/95; 1869/95; 1870/95; 1873/95; 1984/95; 2669/99; 2878/01; 2918/01; 3005/02; 3780/07; File N° CNE 6713/2016/CA1, judgement of the 04/20/17, among others entre otros.
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 33 have infuenced in our form of representative government, being representative by the declarative force of the articles which although it is well established in an indirect or 1 and 22 that must be harmonized through the principle delegating democracy, it has a strong participating scope of interpretative unit. As it is pointed out by the Professor in the last times. Alberto Dalla Via, it is clear that – nowadays – good part of the challenge of the States of right, is precisely in being able Regarding this, it is worthy to remember Sieyés, to whom to conciliate representation with participation, being that we owe the theoretical elaboration of the representative although it is precisely questioned, it is the representation system that after being put into practice by the U.S. in formal terms for being considered a bourgeois creation Constitution of 1787 and defended with great enthusiasm destined to preserve the status quo, while the channels of by Madison, Hamilton and Jay, from The Federalist pages4. participation as opening to a greater democratization are Such precedents had a strong infuence in our original usually valued in progressive drive5. constitutional text, mainly in the literality of the article 22, which establishes that: The People neither deliberates Now, after doing this brief clarifcation, it corresponds nor govern, but instead, through their representatives and to stand out that if it is understood that the democratic authorities created by this Constitution…”. political regime supposes the “government of the people” as a whole and not just of a group, whichever its entity Hence, although with the 1994 constitutional reform and would be (majority or minority), it is evident that the the incorporation of the articles 39 (popular initiative) and government representation must refect as faithfully 40 (popular consultation), and the constituent increased as possible that community, favoring its necessary and the levels of citizen participation, our system continues active participation.
in electoral matter is expressed in a reduced participation of the women in the public decision making and in cultural patterns that difficult the exercise of their rights of citizenship in equality of conditions with respect to the men. In that sense, the Platform of the IV World Conference of the Woman of Beijing of 1995 established the need of bringing together two great strategic guidelines: the affirmative actions that favor the access of women to election positions, and the gender mainstreaming of gender in the State, that points out to the promotion of the equity through the systematic integration of an approach of gender “in all the systems and structures, the politics, processes and procedures””
4 HAMILTON, A., MADISON, J. and JAY, J., The Federalist, Fund of Economic Culture, Mexico, 1974. Cited in DALLA VIA, Alberto, Institutions of Political and Constitutional Right, Abeledo Perrot, 2013, Buenos Aires. 5 Dalla Via, Alberto, ob. cit.
34 Electoral World Magazine // January 2018 Congress of the Argentina Nation.
It is a universally assumed concept that the democracy the exercise of their rights of citizenship in equality of not only is a form of government of the political societies, conditions with respect to the men. In that sense, the or a political regime, understanding as such a system Platform of the IV World Conference of the Woman of of organization of the power of the community in the Beijing of 1995 established the need of bringing together State, but also a way of conceiving the social life; in other two great strategic guidelines: the affrmative actions that words, it is a way of conceiving the life of the individual favor the access of women to election positions, and the inside the social one. gender mainstreaming of gender in the State, that points out to the promotion of the equity through the systematic In this way, the problematic acquires greater relevance integration of an approach of gender “in all the systems starting with the incorporation of the great social masses and structures, the politics, processes and procedures” 6. to the election processes and the acknowledgment of their legitimacy to exert the right of the vote, on one side, From there the need of understanding the political and to decide the destinies of the democratic regime, on system through the detailed analysis of its mechanisms the other side. of integration and renewal in the exercise of the power, as well as the study of its juridical regime that shows Regarding this last aspect, we cannot ignore that the us the ideological maturity of a society refected in its inequality of gender in electoral matter is expressed constitutional and legal institutions, as fundament for the in a reduced participation of the women in the public functioning of the elective system. decision making and in cultural patterns that diffcult
6 Rees, Teresa, Refections on the Uneven Development of Gender Mainstreaming in Europe, en International Feminist Journal of Politics, Vol. 7, N° 4, 2005. Cit. en RODRÍGUEZ GUSTA, Ana Laura y CAMINOTTI, Mariana, Políticas públicas de equidad de género: las estrategias fragmentarias de la Argentina y Chile, Revista SAAP, vol. 4 N.° 1 CABA, enero-junio 2010. Versión on line ISSN 1853-1970.
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 35 II. THE ISSUE OF GENDER IN ELECTORAL MATTER However, paradoxically, the Argentinean women of every social stratus have taken active part in the political It is an already known event the long struggle that the life, a lot before it was talked about the possibility that women have had to face, throughout the history, to be someday they would be citizens10. part of the “public thing”, either in Latin America as well as in Europe. In the prefaces of the XX century, we fnd an important number of women that have the determination of The truth is that even the culturally rooted conception achieving their own vindications. They participate in the regarding certain hierarchic levels, positions, academic unions and the protester political parties claiming their honors, professional experience, and so on, are reserved rights, open the doors in the university and have their to the men as exclusive condition of its gender, persists. magazine. It starts to be talked of the women becoming This is so, due to the fact that “historically validated citizens11. cultural patterns, made that the women would be systematically deprived from a set of rights, in particular As a consequence of this, the frst projects of law are of those that refer to the participation of the public life approached – of all the political and ideological overtones and the free expression, leaving them secluded during – oriented to advocate the legislative reform that would centuries inside the private-domestic space, while the assure the political rights of the woman, among which public space was conceived as exclusive patrimony of we can point out the one of the deputies Rogelio Aráoz the male gender”7. (1907), conservative, Rodriguez Araya (1919), radical, Leopoldo Bard (1925), radical, and Bravo (1929), In this case, the problems derived from the discrimination socialist12. If I mention the political qualifcation of the exceed the exclusively juridical approach; frequently, authors is in order to prove that it is not a located process diffcult to eradicate prejudices and stereotypes in a certain political sector, but rather that there have been are involved. However, the Right can, even with limitations, contribute with mechanisms to advance in the construction of an equal society8.
As we stated, it is important, to have a cabal vision of Likewise, on the 27th of June of the theme, to mention how they have evolved in our this year it was presented to the political-electoral history, the modalities of extension of the suffrage, in what refers to the woman, specifcally. Senate of the Nation a report that reveals the challenges In this way, it is convenient to go back to the epoch for the parity of gender in the after the Revolution of the 25th of May of 1810, where the ideas of the French Revolution are gathered in our Argentinean politics. Such report constitutional essays that grant the status of “citizen” to was carried out by the Program every free man, born and resident in the territory. The slavery disappears gradually, nonetheless the freedom, of the United Nations, UNO equality and fraternity are limited by gender, the skin Women and International IDEA. color and the economic situation9.
7 UBEIRA, Alicia Mercedes, “The human rights” in “The Power of the Women”, The Woman and her Rights Commission, Permanent Assembly Editions for the Human Rights, Bs. As. 2005, page 13. Cit. in Gómez Elena and Suarez Paula, The representation of the women in the organs of selection for the Access to the public function. Speech presented in the XIII Iberian American Congress of Constitutional Law, Mexico, 2017. 8 Treacy, Guillermo F., suspicious categories and control of constitutionality, Lessons and Essays Magazine, N° 89, Faculty of Law, UBA, 2011. Cited in Gómez Elena and Suarez Paula, op.cit. 9 Braslavsky, C., (comp) (1984). Woman and Education, UNESCO. OREALC. Santiago of Chile. Cited in Suarez Paula Soledad, The lawyer women in the history and in the Faculty of Law of the Buenos Aires University. Academy, Magazine over the teaching of law, year 10, number 20, pages 143-183, Buenos Aires, Argentina. 10 Moreau de Justo, Alicia, Participation of the woman in the national politics, Magazine of the National University of Cordoba, page 284, 2nd series, year X, N° 1-2, March-June, 1969. Cited in Suarez, Paula Soledad, op. cit. 11 SUÁREZ, Paula S., op. cit. 12 Rebora, Juan Carlos, The woman in the tribunals and in the congress. Her vocation to the public positions. In her L.L. t.7, 1937, sect. doct.
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cited law, the National Constitution and the International treaties that possess constitutional hierarchy, with the purpose of achieving the effective integration of the women in the political activity.
Thereby, since previously to the approval of the law of quota it was constitutionalized – with the 1994 constitutional reform – the right of real equality of the woman in the political feld by establishing that “the real equality of opportunities between men and women for the access to elective and party positions will be guaranteed by affrmative actions in the regulation of the political parties and in the electoral regime” (article 37). Likewise, the second transitory disposition specifes that “the affrmative actions that the article 37 refers to, in its National Constitution. last paragraph cannot be inferior to the valid ones at the time of approving this Constitution and will be in force up to the time determined by the law”. representatives of different sectors that advocated for a In agreement with the cited norms, it also establishes in reform with the purpose of incorporating the woman in its article 75, subparagraph 23 as one of the contributions the political-public life. of the Congress of the Nation, the one of “legislating and promoting measures of affrmative action that However, none of the mentioned projects prospered and will guarantee the real equality of opportunities and of it was just with the Law 13.010 of 1947 – instrument of treatment, and the full enjoyment and exercise of the political action promoted by Eva Peron – that was legally rights recognized by this Constitution and by the valid consecrated the female suffrage at the national level, with international treaties over human rights, in particular the effective application in the 1951 elections. It is worth to ones that have to do with the women”. stand out that in 1927 in San Juan – during the government of Dr. Aldo Canton – there already existed a law that On the other side, with the addition that was carried considered the possibility of granting to the woman a out through the writing of the article 75 subparagraph parity of political rights with the man and thanks this, 22 of the international treaties of Human Rights with in 1934, the female doctor Emar Acosta had achieved to constitutional hierarchy, to our positive internal right, it access to a deputy position13. can be mentioned also other instruments of relevance for the theme that is approached such as the Convention for In regards to the female suffrage, in its passive face, it the Elimination of all the Forms of Discrimination Against corresponds to remember that Argentina, by sanctioning the Woman (called CEDAW) – approved by the General in 1991 the Law 24,012 14 transformed in one of the frst Assembly of United Nations in December of 1979, ratifed countries of the world in establishing quotas or legal by the Law 23.179 – which in its article 3 establishes that shares, ideating a modality of really innovative affrmative “the State that are part of it will take in all the spheres, and action. in particular in the political, social, economic and cultural spheres, all the appropriate measures, even the one of The mentioned legal body fxes the possibility of including legislative nature, to assure the full development and a minimum of the 30% of women in the lists of candidates advance of the woman, with the objective of guaranteeing for national elections with possibility of resulting elected. the exercise and the full enjoyment of the human rights On the other side, through mainly the regulatory decree and the essential freedoms in equality of conditions with 1246/00 – after being modifed by the 451/05 one – it the man”. was guaranteed the fulfllment of the dispositions of the
13 Fuster Retali, José, The change of role of the woman in the Argentinean society starting from the procurement of the female vote. Speech presented in the European Congress of Female Hispanic Americans, University of Varsovia, 2000. Cited in Suarez, Paula Soledad, op. cit. 14 Offcial Bulletin N° 27,276, 3rd of December of 1991. This law was regulated through two presidential decrees dictated in 1993 and 2000, which detailed and broadened the scope of minimum quota.
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 37 Parity of Gender, the project establishes that the electoral lists must be integrated by men and women in an intercalated way and that the political parties also must grant the 50 per cent of their positions to female leaders.
Likewise, the Inter American Convention to Prevent, In this point, Argentina has followed the principles Approve and Eradicate the Violence against the Woman, consecrated in the American Convention of Human acknowledges the right of the women to “have equality Rights, in the International Pact of Civil and Political of access to the public functions of their country and to Rights and in the CEDAW. Such prescriptions are framed participate in the public issues, including the decision in a progressive conception of fundamental rights that making” (article 4, subparagraph j). This conception of require from the State a true commitment that aims to measures of affrmative action has also been adopted remove the obstacles to achieve an effective protection of in different international conferences, such as the Sixth such rights, in the case, to the participation in the political- Regional Conference over the Integration of the Woman public life. in the Economic and Social Development of Latin America and the Caribbean, preparatory of the IV World Together with the implementation of such normative, and Conference over the Woman, carried out in Beijing in at the jurisprudential level the National Electoral Chamber 1995 15. started, from its location, to accompany those public policies in the matter that are necessary. In particular, Meanwhile, at last, and in what refers to the legislative such Tribunal has sustained that “the law 24.012 legislates feld, we have to quote the Law 26.485 of 2009 over the over the matter of public order, since the institutional “Integral protection to prevent, approve and eradicate the organization of the Nation is interested in it (articles 37 violence against the women in the ambits in which they and 45 of the National Constitution).”17. In this sense it develop their inter personal relationships”, which presents was pointed out that “when the law 24.012 establishes that among its objectives the elimination of the discrimination the lists of the political parties will have to take women in against women and men in all the orders of life, and it a 30% ´in proportions of possibilities of resulting elected´ consecrates among the protected rights the equality of is creating, on one side, the obligation for the political rights, of opportunities and of treatment between men parties of writing their lists of candidates according with and women. All of this implies for Argentina the duty of that law, and hence, the right correlative of the citizens implementing public policies that guarantee the equality that have the constitutional right of the suffrage (art. 37 of in all the ambits and fnish with the violence against the C.N.) of voting for lists of candidates that are formed the woman, historical manifestation of the inequality by women in the way established by such norm”18; between both genders, reproduced for generations in an adding that “it is not enough that the lists are composed unconscious way through the tradition, the custom, and by a minimum of thirty per cent of women but instead the habit.16. that besides, it is necessary that such integration becomes
15 http://carlacarrizo.com.ar/igualdad-y-transparencia-en-la-corte-suprema/ 16 http://carlacarrizo.com.ar/igualdad-y-transparencia-en-la-corte-suprema/ 17 Judgements CNE 1568/93 y 1836/95 18 Judgements CNE 1836/95 38 Electoral World Magazine // January 2018 THE ISSUE OF GENDER IN ELECTORAL MATTER IN THE REPUBLIC OF ARGENTINA
As we can see, the jurisprudence of the National Electoral Chamber with innumerable pronouncements in which it had to interpret the dispositions of the Law 24.012 to the purposes of protecting the effective participation of the women in the lists of candidates to elective public positions. However, until the 20th of April of this year it was not issued on the issue of equality of gender towards the interior of the political parties, due to the absence of a judicial cause that formulates it this way, although in 2013 the cited Tribunal judged an agreement (N° 40/13 22) where it was established that the federal judges with electoral competence must control that in the internal structure of the parties the norms of female quotas must be complied, Struggle for the female vote. and taking action to regulate the abnormal situations.
In the case “Villar, Daniel Osvaldo c/Popular Union On concrete in such a way that – with a reasonable degree of s/formulates petition – Popular Union ON”23, the judges probability – their access to the legislative function could of the maximum Tribunal in electoral matter resolved become possible in the minimum proportion established the case formulating for some affliates of the Popular by the law”19. Union political party that questioned the legitimacy of the integration of the directive organs of the entity. In that Likewise, the Tribunal acknowledged active legitimation sense, they established the judicial intervention of the to a female citizen with the fundament that “the list of a group to normalize irregular situations linked with the party is not adjusted to what the law establishes, not only infringement of the law of shares or quotas of gender. it is violating it but also is restricting it and infringing that right of the voter that is born from it and that has, therefore, constitutional root”20. In that cause Ms. Maria Teresa Merciadri de Morini appeared as affliated to the UCR – Cordoba district- challenging the list of candidates However, none of the to national deputies of such party, which it would be formed placing the women in the 3° and 6° positions. mentioned projects prospered The parts in this case settled down with a friendly and it was just with the Law solution based on the new regulation over the female quota emitted by the Argentinean Executive Power 13.010 of 1947 – instrument through the cited Decree 1246/00, which is approved by of political action promoted 21 the CIDH in the Report 103/01. by Eva Peron – that was Certainly, this precedent served to effectively established legally consecrated the female a more exhaustive control of the norm of quota. In fact, currently our country has in the Chamber of Deputies suffrage at the national level, with 39% of women and a 42% of them in the Chamber with effective application in of Senators, having as their maximum representative the current President of the Senate: Marta Gabriela Michetti. the 1951 elections.
19Judgements CNE 1566/93; 1836/95; 1850/95; 1862/95; 1864/95; 1866/95 y 350705. Cit. en DALLA VIA, Alberto, op. cit. 20Judgements CNE 1836/95 21 DALLA VIA, Alberto, op. cit. 22 In particular it was detailed that “when some of the party authorities communicated by the political groups [...] affect the minimum percentage required due to gender, the magistrates will ask the party to fx the anomaly. Until that occurs, the party will neither register nor will have such authority as recognized. If the iregularity would affect an already recognized authority [...], the messier judges will adopt the adequate measures to fx the situation” (cf. Ac. cit., pto. 7.°). 23 Cause: “Villar, Daniel Osvaldo c/Popular Union ON s/formula petition – ON Popular Union” (File N° CNE 6713/2016/CA1), Judgement of the 20th of April of 2017.
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 39 In order to decide this way, Dr. Santiago H. Corcuera This reinforces the challenge of adopting a law of (President) and Dr. Alberto R. Dalla Via (Vice president), political parity that allows to overcome the plateau and to considered that “it is essential that the democratic adequate the national normative to the principle of parity postulates that rule the political organization in which democracy, as a new target to eradicate the exclusion of the parties fnd their reason of being and their genesis, the women in the access and in the exercise of the power. are there present towards the interior of those groups (cf. Judgement CNE 4535/2011)”. In this way, as Professor Daniel Sabsay points out, it is of not great use the legal acknowledgement if later on it is Hence, they conclude that “it is indisputable that in the omitted the auditing of its effective application. This is integration of the National Directive Board there exist what has happened with the female quota, especially in a violation of the norms of equality of gender (cf. law what refers to its application in the directive organs of the 24.012 to which it resends the law 23.298, art. 3° inc. b), groupings. It is precisely these the ones that many times since as it formed by fourteen members, the minimum of forget their role of custodies in conditions of equality of all women that the law imposes is of fve (cf. Dpt. 1246/00), the members, independently of their gender. The decision while only three have been included, as the recurring of the National Electoral Chamber takes very seriously the one is expressed, in non-controverted and corroborated role of auditing that the judges must comply facing the affrmation with the information that is kept in the infringement of norms of public order, as the electoral and National Registry of Political Groups of this Tribunal”. the political party laws are, assuming an active role in the tutoring of the equality of gender towards the interior of A very interesting aspect that the analyzed precedent the political parties, the same way as it has been made for offers is when it refers to the sub-representation of the the publicly elective positions24. women in the leadership positions, since there it is affrmed that “the members of the [national executive organ] [...] Although the normative tries to preserve the freedom of are the responsible ones of implementing agreements association and the capacity of internal regulation of the and resolutions adopted by the national assembly of the parties as well as their life, without interference of the party, and of verifying that their statutes and the national state authority, it is well known that the rights consecrated electoral laws are complied. Hence, the presence of the in the National Constitution that also reach the juridical women in [those] [...] is critical to assure that the laws of persons as it is the case of the political parties, are not quotas are followed in the selection of candidates to the absolute, but instead they are relative and they must be Legislative Power; to infuence in the composition of the exerted in the frame of the constitutional reasonability lists; to monitor the budget of the party assuring that it which implies that such freedom does not generate the complies with its gender commitments; to represent the violation of the rights of the members for not any reason, interests of the women in the decision spaces; and to and even less when this implies the characterization of promote mechanisms and surveil the policies directed to conducts that can classifed as discriminating for religious, promote the equality of gender”. racial reasons, or as in the assumption that occupies us due to issues of belongingness to a certain gender.
Argentina has followed the principles consecrated in the American Convention of Human Rights, in the International Pact of Civil and Political Rights and in the CEDAW. Such prescriptions are framed in a progressive conception of fundamental rights that require from the State a true commitment that aims to remove the obstacles to achieve an effective protection of such rights, in the case, to the participation in the political-public life.
24 SABSAY, Daniel, The female quota in the performance of the political parties, Sup. Const. 2017 (June) 06/29/17, 5 – The Law 207-D, 5
40 Electoral World Magazine // January 2018 THE ISSUE OF GENDER IN ELECTORAL MATTER IN THE REPUBLIC OF ARGENTINA
The whole context shows the need that the theme can be installed in the political debate. A proof of this are some of the projects of law that are currently in treatment in the Congress of the Nation. A clear example of this are the projects of Parity at the national level – that is with a half approval in the Senate and in the Chamber of Deputies, with date 19 and 20 of October of 2016 respectively – and the one that has to do with inclusion of Political Violence in the Law 26485 of “Integral protection of women”, with the purpose of avoiding the obstacles for the exercise of the political rights of those ones, taking the precedent of the Law of Bolivia (N° 243) of 2012 against the Violence and the Political harassment against Women.
As a relatively recent fact we can mention, likewise, the law 14.848 promulgated by the Argentinean government that regulated through the 1345 Decree the parity of gender in the conformation of the electoral lists for the province of Buenos Aires, which must be composed starting from the next elections in equal proportion of men and women. On the 11th of November of 1951 the Argentinian women of the whole After the mentioned reform, in the province of Buenos country for the first time exerted their right to vote and to be elected. Aires laws of parity in Chubut (Law XII N° 12, of Political Equality of Gender), in Salta (Law 7.955) and in Neuquén (Law 3.053) were adopted. In the frst two cases, it had to do with norms over the equal composition of the lists of province and local candidates (for all the municipalities either politically and institutionally, as well as in its social, in Salta and only for those without autonomy in Chubut). economic and cultural structure, it constructed with a In Neuquén, the mechanisms of parity in the lists of legal framework that must guarantee the continuity of province and local candidates (except in the autonomous the forms of genuine and broad representation to refect municipalities, which will decide if they adhere or not to the expressions of all the sectors in the common Company the provincial normative), was part of a broader electoral of consolidating a society with real opportunities and reform. It is important to mention that the three provinces specifc perspectives of development. include mechanisms of alternation. Finally, the parity achieved a half approval in the provinces of Santa Fe Although it has been objected that the establishment and Catamarca, while there exist projects that are being of “shares” or “quotas” of any nature result anti- processed in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires25. representative as they undermine the preferences manifested in an election, the so called “quota of gender” III. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS has proven its attitude to open channels of political participation to the women as a way of equal repairing It is essential to count with a plan of adequate public due to the fact that it has been postponed for many years: policies in electoral matter. In this context is where we can in consequence, we understand that until the society does appreciate the relevance of the role that the juridical system not assume a greater degree of equality in the political represents when adopting the state organism in his whole participation, it results necessary to keep a system of set of norms, the principles and the institutions that give quotas, understanding that it must be temporary until fundament, orientation and cohesion to their institutions, such historical inequality is repaired, or else, the political their acts and their objectives. Of course, this constant parity at the national level is achieved. reference to the legal framework and that is (must be) the essence of the State of Right, is just the self-limitation of Moreover, and in similar order of ideas, it results the State per se, due to juridical norms that respond rather illustrative to remember the words of Margarita Malhano to the legitimating need of transparence, legality and Torres spoken in the debate of the law of quotas on the democratic governance than to the absolute and supreme 20th and 21st of September of 1990 in the Senate, by stating power. The process of Argentinean democratization, that “it will come the day in which it will not be necessary
25 Report: the political parity in Argentina. Advances and challenges, op. cit.
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 41 to establish minimum representation of women. That day will be the one of the transparent, free and prejudice-free The decision of the National societies. Electoral Chamber takes very However, due to the reasons presented we emphatically seriously the role of auditing state that in the times that are coming, the term equality that the judges must comply will become extensive to the consecration of the right of the woman to participate in such passive and actively facing the infringement of in the political life which demands that the operating norms of public order, as the normative of the constitutional mandate includes that the convocation to elections of representatives to occupy electoral and the political party public positions must take place in parity of gender, which laws are, assuming an active would result in a necessary and indispensable advance, role in the tutoring of the besides being overcomer of the standing out, doubtless intention that the constituent would imagine by including equality of gender towards the in the article 37, the mandate to guarantee, by positive interior of the political parties, actions, on the regulation of the political parties and on the electoral regime of real equality of opportunities between the same way as it has been men and women. made for the publicly elective positions.
It is important to emphasize that the semantic interpretation of the term “real equality” goes beyond determining a quota in the participation as how it was legislated in its opportunity, that as it has been expressed is worthy to stand out, but that per se implies a minimum recognition and preaches that there is not a real equality yet, which must be guaranteed in the conformation of the lists in parity without any limitation.
It goes without saying that this demands not only the modifcation of the electoral legislation, but also of the law of political parties, where it can be expected that in the future it becomes authentically operative, the system of election of the candidates to offer to the electors through the free and secret participation of the members in the internal struggle of the different lines and postures that each party offer with conditions of equality in the participation of men and women.
In synthesis, it is important to stand out that it is a necessary condition of a legal system the coherence of its normative in all its expressions, and hence if as time passes, the civil equality between men and women has been consecrated – this, as undeniable result of the struggle of the woman during centuries to obtain such condition – results anachronistic that if such legislation depends on the decision of the political organs, these ones would not be integrated in an equal way.
42 Electoral World Magazine // January 2018 THE ISSUE OF GENDER IN ELECTORAL MATTER IN THE REPUBLIC OF ARGENTINA
we understand that until the society does not assume a greater degree of equality in the political participation, it results necessary to keep a system of quotas, understanding that it must be temporary until such historical inequality is repaired, or else, the political parity at the national level is achieved.
BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCE
• Braslavsky, C., (comp) (1984). Woman and Education, UNESCO. OREALC. Santiago de Chile. • Offcial Bulletin N° 27.276, 3rd of December of 1991. • CAMINOTTI, Mariana and COGLIANO, Natalia. Report: “The political parity in Argentina: advances and challenges”. 1st ed. illustrated. – Buenos Aires; Program of the United Nations for the Development – PNUD; Lima: International IDEA; Panama: Organization of the United Nations. Women, 2017. • Dalla Via, Alberto, Institutions of Political and Constitutional Law, Abeledo Perrot, 2013, Buenos Aires. • Judgements CNE 1568/93; 1586/93; 1595/93; 1850/95; 1862/95; 1863/95; 1864/95; 1866/95; 1867/95; 1868/95; 1869/95; 1870/95; 1873/95; 1984/95; 2669/99; 2878/01; 2918/01; 3005/02; 350705; 3780/07; Expte N° CNE 6713/2016/CA1, judgement of 20/4/17. • Fuster Retali, José, The change of role of the woman in the Argentinean society starting from the obtaining of the female vote. Speech presented in the European Congress of Hispanic American women, University of Varsovia, 2000. • GÓMEZ, Elena y SUÁREZ ,Paula, The representation of the women in the organs of selection for the access to the public function. Speech presented in the XIII Iberian American Congress of Constitutional Law, México 2017. • HAMILTON, A., MADISON, J. and JAY, J., The Federalist, Fund of Economic Culture, México, 1974. • http://carlacarrizo.com.ar/igualdad-y-transparencia-en-la-corte-suprema/ • Moreau de Justo, Alicia, Participation of the woman in the national politics, Magazine of the National University of Cordoba, p. 284, 2nd series, year X, N° 1-2, March-June, 1969. • Rebora, Juan Carlos, The woman in the tribunals and in the congress. Her vocation to public positions. In Su: L.L. t.7, 1937, sec. doct. • Rees, Teresa, Refections on the Uneven Development of Gender Mainstreaming in Europe, en International Feminist Journal of Politics, Vol. 7, N° 4, 2005. • RODRÍGUEZ GUSTA, Ana Laura and CAMINOTTI, Mariana, Public policies of equity of gender: the fragmentary strategies of Argentina and Chile, Magazine SAAP, volume 4 N° 1, CABA, January-June 2010. On-line versión ISSN 1853-1970. • SABSAY, Daniel, The female quota in the performance of the political parties, Sup. Const. 2017 (June), 6/29/17, 5 – The Law 207-D, 5. • SUÁREZ, Paula Soledad, The lawyer women in the history and in the Faculty of Law of the University of Buenos Aires. Academy, Magazine over teaching of the law, year 10, number 20, p. 143-183, Buenos Aires, Argentina. • Treacy, Guillermo F., Suspicious categories and control of constitutionality, Lessons and Essays Magazine N° 89, Faculty of Law UBA, 2011. • UBEIRA, Alicia Mercedes, “The human rights” in “The Power of the Women”, The Woman and Her Rights Commission, Permanent Assembly Editions for Human Rights, Bs. As. 2005, page. 13.
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 43 Marta Matamoros, a woman of greatPanamá substance and integrity
DANIA BATISTA GUEVARA Panama
She is Panamanian. She has a B.Sc. degree in Humanities with a specialty in Philosophy and History from the University of Panama. She has a Master´s degree in Human Rights, International Right and International Cooperation from the European Campus Stellae Institute (Spain). Besides, she has a Post Graduate diploma in Human Rights and Alternate Methods for the Social Confict Resolution from UDELAS. She also has a Certifcation in Social Management from the Institute of National Studies (IDEN). She has studied journalism, as well. She has been an international electoral observer in different Latin American countries by the FUNDASPAD (Salvadorian foundation for the democracy and the social development). She is the author of diverse articles over the national and international scene and of the Gumercinda Páez: Thought and Projection book. Very soon she will publish a research over the feminicide in Panama. She works in the alternative journalism for different agencies and she has a program in Ancon Radio, every Saturday called “Nature in Crisis”.
This year, it was commemorated the 108th anniversary of After seeing this and when she was 34 years old, she the birth of a great Panamanian woman, union and political decides to affliate to the union of tailors and similar female leader: Marta Matamoros. As the “professional works of Panama in 1945. There, she achieved to occupy reminder” that I am, I would like to dedicate some lines the secretariat of fnances. The following year the union regarding her time in this world. approves to go on strike, which lasted for 38 days in the search for better working conditions, an increase She was born in a humble home. Her parents were in the salaries (the women made a weekly salary of 5 Costa Rican. Not being able to fnish high school, soon to 7 dollars, in a workday of 12 to 13 hours), and better she learned the job of cobbler and later on, the job of working conditions from the employers. In 1946, the dressmaker, where she experienced the hardships, union, mainly through her, together with other co- humiliations and poor working conditions of the working workers, presented the project of law where the working class, especially of the women. woman could have maternity six weeks prior to give birth and eight weeks after giving birth, with paid salary and Let us see what she tells regarding this in an interview resting time. This was approved, thanks to the support that she offers to professor Raul Leis, published in the of the deputies Esther Neira and Gumersinda Páez. Later Panama America newspaper (01/04/06): “I had not on, she also struggled so that it would be approved the children, I have no children, but I have always had a maternity leave, or protection from dismissal. high consideration for the woman that is a mother. In the factory, I saw the exhaustion of the pregnant women. The Let us see what she expresses in the cited interview: women worked until the last day of their pregnancy, and “Hence, it was achieved then that in 1946 thousands from the factory they went to the hospital to give birth, of female workers marched to back up the protection and many of them lost their jobs after that. The women maternity law in order to avoid dismissal from work depended on the company will. In 1940, there were many for them; which was approved in the 1946 Constitution. small dressmaking factories in small rooms, where the That was very important! In the study commission of the working women were horribly exploited, 4 or 5 workers project, there were present three union representatives. in a little room sewing work clothing in “Salsipuedes”; I headed the struggle of presenting the maternity since they had to make a dozen trousers for one dollar. protection preliminary project for the working woman. “¡A terrible abuse!”. Hence, so that the woman could have the maternity leave
44 Electoral World Magazine // January 2018 MARTA MATAMOROS, A WOMAN OF GREAT SUBSTANCE AND INTEGRITY
with six weeks paid salary before birth and eight weeks paid salary after birth. With the help of other female, - Marta Matamoros, and of course male- partners, we made the project of law and thousands of signatures were obtained. Each woman became interested in collecting signatures from other a woman of great substance and integrity women, workers, and housewives. We organized a large rally in which marched, among others, our union of clothing making (I also remember the habitants of Old Panama that struggled also for the land of their houses), to present our project of law before the National Assembly. The deputies Ester Calvo and Gumercinda Páez received our demand and presented them, and we stayed there supporting as cheerleaders… And we won it!
The employers opposed! And that was terrible! When they knew what it was approved, they rebelled and there was persecution against the women who became pregnant. The employers were fnding out which women became pregnant to fre them, but the unions presented It was a period of struggle, of great struggle. When the the fght for their reintegration. It was a huge struggle! woman would go back after the 14 weeks, the employers The employers mistreated the workers and offended would say: “There is not more work, we are in recession them, telling them things such as: “If they wanted that and we are reducing our personnel”. It was like a the employers would pay for the children”, and things punishment, a retaliation for having gone on a maternity like that. leave to have her child. Our union – I say ours, although I am already retired, because I feel that I am part of it – had to struggle a lot to reintegrate the fred women. That led us to ask for one year of maternity protection from dismissal.
When the 1972 Constitution came, considering our previous experience, we called the women and we prepared a preliminary project. It was another victory of our union, which was called the National Union of the Industry of Clothing Making (since we had to change its name after its 25th anniversary).
How far away the Dress Making Union, with 95 women and 5 tailors was! In 1968 we were 300 members of the union, and when the General Torrijos in 1970 gave guarantees to the unions, after the coup, the people became happy and there are not enough hands to register the members, who have arrived to ¡three thousands!, there were always less men and more women. In 1946, the union, mainly through her, together with other co- workers, presented the project of law where the working woman could have maternity six weeks prior to give birth and eight weeks after giving birth, with paid salary and resting time. This was approved, thanks to the support of the deputies Esther Neira and Gumersinda Páez. Later on, she also struggled so that it would be approved the maternity leave, or protection from dismissal.
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 45 The case is that when the 1972 Constitution came, we included the vindication of the maternity protection from In 1959, she participated in the dismissal for one year, according to which it is not possible hunger riot and the desperation to fre any woman after giving birth, for a period of one of Colon. Besides, she became year. That was another triumph for us, and another rage for the employers. It was such the cases that in a meeting solidary with the workers of with General Torrijos and the ministers, where we were the Chiriqui Land Company. called to expose our maternity protection from dismissal Another interesting anecdote is project, I talked about this and one of the top staffs said: - “Well, what Ms. Matamoros wants is that we never fre told by the sociologist Jacqueline any female workers. ¡Because every year they have one Candanedo, in an interview baby! Of course, it was said with irony, but, ¡Here we have the law!. I answered to him: Well, I have never had given to the newswoman a child”. Monica Guardia for La Estrella of Panama newspaper (4/16/16), But I am happy that I was the one that proposed it, that was my goal and we achieved it, and it is a triumph that when she said that the CIA had only a few countries have… hence, we have won it”. tried to “bribe”, so that she could be the informant of all the She also fought for the sovereignty in the former Canal Zone. She participated in the protests against the Filós- activities that they carried out. Hines agreement (1947), in the journey of the 9th of January of 1964, among others. In 1952, during the was her duty, to the strike of the bus drivers of Rio Abajo “witch hunt” that took place during the Remón Cantera´s neighborhood, who demanded the payment of social government, she was put in jail for 99 days with no right security fees and a fxed salary. Thanks to the protests of to receive any type of visitors, in the Modelo prison, the other women who were in jail, when they knew who where she spent 14 days in “La Macarela” cell, used for she was, claimed very angrily leaving the water faucets punishments and tortures. As a response, she went on a open and yelling, which caused that she could get out of hunger strike. Her only crime was to give a frm support, the above mentioned cell. that as General Secretary of Union Federation of Workers (today it is the National Center of Workers of Panama), it In 1959, she participated in the hunger riot and the desperation of Colon. Besides, she became solidary with the workers of the Chiriqui Land Company. Another interesting anecdote is told by the sociologist Jacqueline Candanedo, in an interview given to the newswoman Monica Guardia for La Estrella of Panama newspaper (4/16/16), when she said that the CIA had tried to “bribe”, so that she could be the informant of all the activities that they carried out. Something that Marta emphatically rejected because she said that she was never going to betray her principles, her people, her class.
She was a member of the political bureau of the Communist Party of Panama (Party of the People). She represented Panama in multiple union conferences, seminars and congresses at the international and local level. She died on the 28th of December of 2005. The Government of Panama, through the Executive Decree N° 81 of the 18th of May of 2006, created the national award of the Order that has her name.
Marta Matamoros, the working women owe you a lot, and the best we can do to pay you back is to follow your warrior steps, your battles without hesitation. ¡You are a woman of great substance and integrity!
46 Electoral World Magazine // January 2018 MARTA MATAMOROS, A WOMAN OF GREAT SUBSTANCE AND INTEGRITY
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 47 2017 PROJECT OF ELECTORAL INCLUSION IN HONDURAS PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES, NATIVE INDIAN AND AFRICAN-HONDURAN WOMEN, NATIVE INDIAN AND AFRICAN-HONDURAN TOWNS
RICARDO VALVERDE GÓMEZ
Costa Rica
He is Costa Rican. He is a lawyer and public notary who is a specialist in International Law from the University of Costa Rica. He has studied History in that same institution. He has a graduate Certifcation in Human Rights and Democratization Processes from the University of Chile. He has also taken some specialized courses in Human Rights from the Inter American Institute of Human Rights in San José, Costa Rica. Since the beginning of the ninety years, he has worked and has been a consultant of the Inter American Institute of Human Rights, in the specialized area of Political Rights and Elections, CAPEL, leading or supervising Projects of Electoral Assistance in more than 10 countries of the American continent. The areas of his specialty are: Human Rights, Electoral Law, Political Rights, Democracy, Humanitarian International Right, teaching of Law and Right on site and on line, international and national observation of elections, political participation of the civil society, design, execution and evaluation of projects, coordination with donors, research and publication of specialized works.
In the year 2016, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal of On the 18th and 19th of May of 2016, representatives from Honduras reactivated its strategic alliances with three these sectors concurred to three work meetings carried groups of the civil society of the country, specializing its out in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, with these representatives, relationship with many organizations located throughout with the magistrates and with authorities of the TSE, as the country, with the purpose of potentiating the well as with representatives of the IIDH/CAPEL, who had partnerships with formats to improve their relationships just signed a Memorandum of Understanding, to help in for the political participation. these felds. The three magistrates, the general secretary, and the administrative director deserve a special thanks. For this, it was important to detail well the counterparts, to The electoral director, who is the person in charge of this locate the places of the country where these organizations Inclusion Project of the TSE, representatives of the sectors, operate and, above all, what are the areas in which such who worked in a questionnaire which would be applied in entities function. the meeting, the transcription and automation of answers from each sector, the grouping of such answers, the Hence, in particular, three groups were classifed which categorization of axes based on quantity of coincidences, will be coordinated by three expressions of the civil and other expert criteria, the identifcation of a tool for society that would be organized in three spheres: the classifcation and prioritization of problems (Question number 1), identifcation of the level of intervention of the • PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES TSE in relation to the thematic axis (High, medium, low or • NATIVE INDIAN AND AFRICAN-HONDURAN WOMEN none level), and fnally the identifcation of eventual levels • NATIVE INDIAN AND AFRICAN-HONDURAN TOWNS of the TSE, according to the possible levels of intervention.
48 Electoral World Magazine // January 2018 2017 PROJECT OF ELECTORAL INCLUSION IN HONDURAS
The systematization and the ordering of information was The second group worked over 9 questionnaires that dealt arranged and organized by the Costa Rican specialists with the 9 themes applied to the consulted ones that came Ricardo Valverde Gómez and Patricia Guevara Chaves. from disabled persons. This gave different results for each one the groups, being the following ones per group: It means, I needed a methodology of work which would be very complex according to the level of problematization Questions, amount of responses and affected thematic that this would require. In other words, it would be a axes: complex methodology according to the severity of the problems as how it would be presented. N.° 1 45 responses 11 thematic axes
There would be, then, responses to be grouped, as for N.° 2 28 responses 9 thematic axes instance, a training plan, corresponding to the aeis of grouping of several types of training, leadership, politics N.° 3 22 responses 6 thematic axes and elections. N.° 4 21 responses 7 thematic axes
PROCESSING N.° 5 18 responses 6 thematic axes
There is also a descending amount of the answer N° 1 to 5. The frst group worked over 9 questionnaires that worked In other words, there was more interest in the participants the 9 themes applied to the persons queried, who came of the more general themes of the frst answers and from native Indian and African-Honduran women, gave tending to go down as it advanced more in the fnal part different results for each one of the groups, being the of the survey. following ones per group: The themes 1 were related to the identifcation of the 10 Questions, amount of answers and affected thematic axes: main problems, being the theme 2 possible solutions to the problems identifed; the 3rd aspect or problem that should N.° 1 50 responses 17 thematic axes be considered in some project of the TSE to improve their conditions of political participation, priorities for the short N.° 2 29 responses 11 thematic axes term (March 2017) and priorities in problems for elections of political participation in the medium term (November N.° 3 24 responses 8 thematic axes 2017, general elections).
N.° 4 22 responses 8 thematic axes In general, the thematic axes approached also go in descending amount regarding the questions 1 to 5. N.° 5 14 responses 7 thematic axes The third group worked over 25 questionnaires applied to In general, there is a descending amount of the responses the consulted ones that came from groups of women and N° 1 to N° 5. In other words, there was more interest in native Indian ones. It gave different results for each of the the participants in the more general themes of the frst groups, being the following ones per group: answers and it tends to go down as it advanced more to the fnal part of the questionnaire. Questions, amount of responses and affected thematic axes:: The themes 1 were related with the identifcation of the 10 main problems, being the two possible solutions to the N.° 1 173 responses 30 thematic axes identifed problems; the 3 aspects or problems that should be considered in some projects of the TSE to improve N.° 2 94 responses 31 thematic axes their conditions and political participation, priorities for the short term (March 2017) and priorities in problems N.° 3 67 responses 26 thematic axes for elections of political participation in the medium term (November 2017, general elections). N.° 4 51 responses 14 thematic axes
In general, the thematic axes approached also go in N.° 5 57 responses 16 thematic axes descending amount in regards to the questions 1 to 5.
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 49 There is also a descending amount of the response N°1 to improve its conditions of political participation, priorities the 5, although with a change in the question 4. In other for the short term (March 2017) and priorities in problems words, there was more interest in the participants of the for elections of political participation in the medium term more general themes of the frst answers and tending (November 2017, general elections). to go down as it advanced more in the fnal part of the survey. In general, the thematic axes approached also go in descending amount in regards to the questions 1 to 5, The themes 1 had relation with the identifcation of the except for the case N° 4 that presents a slight variation. 10 main problems, being the N° 2, possible solutions to the identifed problems, the 3rd aspect or problem This group of analysis is very complex. that should be considered in some project of the TSE to
APPLICATION OF THE TOOL OF IDENTIFICATION OF PROBLEMS PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
QUESTION 2: QUESTION 4: QUESTION 5: QUESTION 3: POSSIBLE PRIORITIES SHORT PRIORITIES MEDIUM SPECIFIC ASPECTS SOLUTIONS TERM TERM
1. PHYSICAL 1. PHYSICAL 1. PROMOTION AND 1. PHYSICAL ACCESSIBILITY ACCESSIBILITY SENSITIZATION OVER ACCESSIBILITY (MATERIAL AND TO (MATERIAL AND TO THE POLITICAL (MATERIAL AND TO THE VOTING THE VOTING PARTICIPATION OF THE VOTING CENTERS) CENTERS) CENTERS) PCD
2. TRAINING ON 2. INCLUSION IN 2. PHYSICAL CITIZEN AND ELECTORAL 2. TRAINING FOR THE ACCESSIBILITY POLITICAL PROCESSES/POLITICAL APPROACH OF PCD (MATERIAL AND TO PARTICIPATION TO PARTIES/LAWS AND THE VOTING CENTERS) PCD REGULATION.
3. PROMOTION AND 3. TRAINING AND 3. ALLIANCES WITH SENSITIZATION OVER 3. IDENTIFICATION EMPOWERMENT FOR ORGANIZATIONS OF THE POLITICAL AND PERSONS WITH PCD PARTICIPATION OF DOCUMENTATION DISABILITIES PCD
4. PROMOTION AND 4. INCLUSION IN 4. INCLUSION IN 4. PROMOTION AND SENSITIZATION OVER ELECTORAL ELECTORAL SENSITIZATION OVER THE POLITICAL PROCESSES/POLITICA PROCESSES/POLITICAL THE POLITICAL PARTICIPATION OF L PARTIES/LAWS AND PARTIES/LAWS AND PARTICIPATION OF PCD PCD REGULATION. REGULATION.
5. TRAINING AND 5. TRAINING AND 5. ACCOMPANIMENT 5. IDENTIFICATION EMPOWERMENT FOR EMPOWERMENT FOR /ATTENTION TO THE AND PERSONS WITH PERSONS WITH PCD IN THE ELECTORAL DOCUMENTATION DISABILITIES DISABILITIES PROCESS.
50 Electoral World Magazine // January 2018 2017 PROJECT OF ELECTORAL INCLUSION IN HONDURAS
The present table integrates several elements that is and of second in this fourth position. Important although interesting to analyze as a whole and to integrate in its distributed is the theme of promotion and sensitization diversity. Likewise, it is important to see how elements over the political participation in the network of Persons gather together which have a relationship with the with Disabilities. Likewise, relevant are the Training relevance of certain issues (priorities) and which one is its and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities and the relevance together with key factors such as the colors and Inclusion in Electoral Parties/political parties/laws and its relevance as problem. regulations. Other minor themes occupy themes also relevant. The relevance of the red color (physical accessibility, such as material and access to the voting centers) is fundamental, This thematic and its addition is important in this global since it appears as frst theme of interest in 3 of the 4 items matter.
NATIVE INDIAN AND AFRICAN-HONDURAN WOMEN
QUESTION 2: QUESTION 4: QUESTION 5: QUESTION 3: POSSIBLE PRIORITIES SHORT PRIORITIES MEDIUM SPECIFIC ASPECTS SOLUTIONS TERM TERM
1. INCLUSION IN 1. INCLUSION IN 1. IDENTIFICATION ELECTORAL ELECTORAL 1. PARTICIPATION OF AND PROCESSES/POLITICAL PROCESSES/POLITICAL THE ORGANIZATIONS DOCUMENTATION PARTIES/LAWS AND PARTIES/LAWS AND IN THE PROCESS REGULATIONS REGULATIONS
2. INCLUSION IN 2. TRAINING AND 2. TRAINING AND 2. TRAINING AND ELECTORAL POLITICAL SENSIBILIZATION SENSIBILIZATION OVER PROCESSES/POLITICAL FORMATION AND OVER POLITICAL THE POLITICAL PARTIES/LAWS AND CITIZEN PARTICIPATION PARTICIPATION REGULATIONS PARTICIPATION
3. TRAINING AND 3. IDENTIFICATION SENSIBILIZATION 3. INCLUSSIVE 3. TRANSPARENCE AND AND OVER THE POLITICAL ELECTORAL LAW. TRUST DOCUMENTATION PARTICIPATION
4. INDEPENDENT 4. LEADERSHIP 4. OBSERVATORY OF CANDIDACIES OF 4. OBSERVATORY OF QUALITY OF THE NATIVE INDIAN AND PARTIES/NATIVE NATIVE INDIAN AND ORGANIZATIONS AND AFRICAN-HONDURAN INDIAN AND AFRICAN AFRICAN-HONDURAN OF THE LEADERS TOWNS DESCENDANT TOWNS MOVEMENTS.
5. USE OF NATIVE 5. TO FACE 5. TO PREVENT THE 5. REPRESENTATION INDIAN PATTERS FOR CORRUPTION AND PURCHASE OF OF NATIVE INDIAN THE POLITICAL LACK OF CONSCIENCE, VOTE TOWNS PARTICIPATION TRANSPARENCE AND IDENTITY
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 51 The present table has the distinctive characteristic of the implementation of a specialized observatory in themes of two ones with which it compares to, of having just a few native Indians and African/Honduran towns. frames in common. There are not total common frames, which is natural of every table. The putting in common The other part of the table is related to a broad presence has to do with three themes: inclusion in electoral of great quantity of varied themes such as candidacies, processes/political parties/laws and regulations (three electoral law, independent candidacies and so on. Great times), as well as training, sensitization over the themes diversity and identifcation of themes for the future work of political participation (also repeated three times), in the matter and the diversity. as well as identifcation and documentation and the
NATIVE INDIAN AND AFRICAN-HONDURAN PERSONS
QUESTION 4: QUESTION 5: QUESTION 2: POSSIBLE QUESTION 3: SPECIFIC PRIORITIES SHORT PRIORITIES MEDIUM SOLUTIONS ASPECTS TERM TERM
1. TRAINING AND 1. TRAINING AND 1. TRAINING 1. TRAINING POLITICAL POLITICAL (LEADERSHIP, POLITICS (LEADERSHIP, POLITICS FORMATION AND FORMATION AND AND ELECTIONS). AND ELECTIONS) CITIZEN CITIZEN PARTICIPATION PARTICIPATION
2. PROMOTION OF THE 2. PROMOTION AND 2. SPACES IN POLITICAL SENSITIZATION FOR 2. TO ASSURE POLITICAL POLITICAL PARTICIPATION OF THE POLITICAL SPACES, POSITIONS POSITIONS, NATIVE INDIAN AND PARTICIPATION OF THE (LAW). CONGRESS, PARTIES. AFRICAN-HONDURAN WOMEN. WOMEN.
3. TRAINING AND 3. STRENGTHENING OF 3. TO ASSURE POLITICAL FORMATION 3. ORGANIZATION THE ORGANIZATION POLITICAL SPACES, AND CITIZEN AND PLANNING AND PLANNING POSITIONS (LAW) PARTICIPATION
4. PROMOTION AND 4. SPACES IN POLITICAL SENSITIZATION OVER 4. CENSUS OF 4. ORGANIZATION AND POSITIONS, CONGRESS THE POLITICAL WOMEN PLANNING AND PARTIES PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN.
5. TO ASSURE POLITICAL 5. TO INCENTIVATE CIVIC 5. TO ASSURE 5. OBSERVATORY OF SPACES, POSITIONS CULTURE – CULTURAL POLITICAL SPACES, WOMEN. (LAW) IDENTITY POSITIONS (LAW)
Once again we fnd a strengthened group, very much Several themes such as the census of women, observatory consolidated with the themes to assure spaces and of women and the promotion of the political participation political positions, as well as the issues of training, political of the women gives a very good perspective of widening formation and citizen participation, strengthening of the the radius of action of greater and better forms of organization and planning. Another additional aspect of participation. the training (leadership, politics and elections), likewise sensitization over the political participation of the women. Let us say that in a special way, there are diverse spheres Hence, it is a great diversity that enriches, but at the same and areas of operation that give us the possibility of time makes more complex the table of possible activities. broadening a lot more the themes that can be approached in certain moments.
52 Electoral World Magazine // January 2018 2017 PROJECT OF ELECTORAL INCLUSION IN HONDURAS
meaning to the sense and value of the identity. Themes DIRECT INTERVENTION OF THE SUPREME and objectives very important in these key points of ELECTORAL TRIBUNAL TO IMPROVE THE themes and values are very sensible nowadays. Key themes in the priority objectives: CONDITIONS OF POLITICAL PARTICIPATION • Training (leadership, politics and elections) • Promotion and sensitization for the political participation A detailed and comprehensive revision of the material of the women compiled during the whole process of automation of the • Strengthening of the organization and planning information gives us a rich process of gathering, at the same • Spaces in political positions, congress and parties time very varied and with multiple formats of approach: • To assure spaces in political positions there are levels in which the level of intervention of the • Political training, formation and citizen participation TSE can be high, medium or low, even – which is very • To incentive civic culture and cultural identity much questionable or debatable – can even be classifed • Census of women as none. The type of interventions can be in very diverse • Promotion of political participation of native Indian and formats such as training, coordination with organizations African-Honduran women of women, sensitization to several politicians and public • Independent candidacies from parties/native Indian powers. The possible combinations are many and very movements and African-Honduran movements varied. • To face corruption and lack of transparence • Participation of the organizations in the process This causes at the same time a great diversity of possible • Transparence and trust states of coordination among expressions of the civil society • To prevent the buying of conscience, vote and identity. and party and organization instances of the civil society, which enriches very much the formats of participation in each one of the three forms of participation.
MAIN ASPECTS TO BE TAKEN INTO It is important to advance CONSIDERATION (2017) in the line of strengthening a census of women, to • PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES promote the political This is the group or counterpart more evolved that the participation of native Indian TSE has in Honduras. It is so from the organizational, and African-Honduran functional and of the realization of activities perspective. Of the pending aspects, there is a good part that is women, to launch and to related to the matter of training, the strengthening of strengthen independent the organization, and the planning of activities. There are pending tasks that would help a lot in consolidating candidacies, to face the anti- important spaces in matter of civil formation and citizen corruption reality and lack of participation. It is important to advance in the line of strengthening a census of women, to promote the political transparency, the involvement participation of native Indian and African-Honduran of organizations in the women, to launch and to strengthen independent candidacies, to face the anti-corruption reality and lack process, with key elements of of transparency, the involvement of organizations in the transparence and trust... process, with key elements of transparence and trust, as well as to prevent the buying of conscience, and to give
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 53 • NATIVE INDIAN AND AFRICAN-HONDURAN Here it is key the issue related with the political WOMENS participation of these persons with disabilities and its empowerment of spaces and areas so that they can Among the different themes to develop in 2017, the issues function. Likewise, everything related to the inclusion of identity and the documentation, the active inclusion in electoral processes to which the groups that co-exist in electoral processes, and at the level of political parties, access with the groups of the civil society that operate in laws and regulations, are in this feld. this area, for which obviously are also included the issues of identifcation and documentation. A very important factor is the training and follow up, the quality of the leadership attributed to the representation Hence, themes linked with the promotion and sensitization of the head of the native Indian towns. It is also important are relevant then, therefore, it is also important the the training and the political formation, which besides accompaniment or attention to persons with disabilities makes that the electoral law be inclusive. Space so that in this feld of persons with disabilities in the election fnally there would be observatories, to put a great process. attention in the themes of representation, to put attention to the use of patterns, this and all the paraphernalia that Themes or issues to consider in the consideration of should be expected that there are new spaces obtained, relevant themes for this 2017: are all combined. • Access to physical accessibility It is also important, spaces to face the corruption and the • Training lack of transparence, to incentive the transparence and the • Alliances of PCD trust, to participate actively in the prevention. • PCD political participation • Empowerment for PCD There are main themes that are pending to be dealt with • Inclusion in electoral processes/PP/laws and to develop. It is recommended to see in detail the • Identifcation and documentation following themes and details: • Promotion and sensitization over political participation • Accompaniment/attention to PCD in the electoral proces. • Identifcation and documentation • Inclusion in electoral processes/pp/laws and regulations • Training and sensitization over the political participation • Quality of leadership of organizations and the leaders • Representation of native Indian towns • Political training and formation and citizen participation • Electoral inclusive law it is key the issue related with • Observatory of native Indian and African-Honduran the political participation of towns • Use of native Indian patterns for the political participation these persons with disabilities • Independent candidacies of parties/native Indian and and its empowerment of African-Honduran movements • To face corruption and lack of transparence spaces and areas so that • Participation of the organizations in the process they can function. Likewise, • Transparence and trust • To prevent the buying of conscience, vote and identity. everything related to the inclusion in electoral processes
• NATIVE INDIAN AND AFRICAN-HONDURAN TOWNS to which the groups that co- exist access with the groups Finally, in the part that corresponds to native Indian and African-Honduran towns, we have interest that the 2017 of the civil society that and the following ones turn around a lot regarding the operate in this area... themes of access to the physical accessibility, the training and the alliances of the persons with disabilities.
54 Electoral World Magazine // January 2018 ORIGINS OF OUR REPUBLIC. PANAMA
Julio Ernesto Linares Franco
Panama
He is Panamanian. He obtained a B. Sc. degree in Law and Political Sciences from the University of Panama in 1987. He also obtained a diploma from the University of Bristol, England, in Compared Law (1988), and he obtained a Master´s degree in the same feld (1990) from the University of Notre Dame, United States of America. He works as a lawyer since 1989 as partner of the Tapia, Linares and Alfaro Law Firm.
He has published the following books: Fathers, Independence and Very Panamanian facing the Centenary – 2004; Mystic, Leadership and Philosophy of Service – 2005; History, Republic and Civism – 2007; The Black Legend: Deceit and Fiction – 2014 (First Edition) – 2015 (Second Edition).
Essays: “Effects of the Independence of Panama and a balance of the 50 and 100 years of the Republic” in the book “Crossing Borders. The philately of Panama as expression of history, culture and identity”, coordinated by Fernando Sucre M. – 2015.
GENESIS OF THE PANAMANIAN NATION by Rodrigo de Bastidas. Since May of 1513, Fernando II “The Catholic” has already baptized the Isthmus with the First of all, let us defne the term “nation” as a group or harmonious name of Golden Castille. The frst population a community of individuals that share common links, in the continental territory was established in the Isthmus such as the language, the religion, the race, the culture, on the 6th of January of 1503 by Christopher Columbus, the tradition, the customs and the historical or political in his fourth trip, called Santa Maria de Belem, besides memory. The nation can converge in a State if the the frst city founded in the continental territory by Vasco elements that form it, such as: a permanent population, a Núñez de Balboa in 1510, called Santa Maria the Antique specifc territory and an independent government, all of of Darien (which is a Colombian territory nowadays). them complement each other. In other words, State and This one had been Santa Maria the Antique, Panamanian nation are not the same. The frst one is a creation of the diocese, the frst one in mainland. law, while the second one is an eminently sociological conception. Any nation can aspire and even become a On the 26th of February of 1538, it was established in juridical-political, sovereign entity, or, what it is equal, a the Isthmus the Royal Audience of Panama by the Royal State in the supranational ambit with all its prerogatives, Personal ID Card, issued by Charles V. And in 1550 it and norms that regulate the International Public Law. was established the Royal Audience in Santa Fe of Bogotá, within the Viceroyalty of Peru, with jurisdiction over the Facing this conceptual development of the “nation” term, New Kingdom of Grenade and the government offces of we notice that Panama is being formed as such, earlier than Santa Marta, Cartagena and Popayan. Additionally, the Colombia. The city of Panama, for instance, is founded Panamanian territory was totally unlinked from what it by Pedro Arias de Avila (Pedrarias Dávila) in 1519, while is called Colombia, until the New Grenade Viceroyalty Santa Fe de Bogotá was established by Gonzalo Jiménez de was re-stablished in 1739, the provinces of Panama and Quesada in 1538. Panama is established even earlier than Veraguas enter to be part of it. Now, we must clarify that Santa Marta, the frst city established in Colombia in 1525 the Colombia of today, just as the General Captainship
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 55 of Venezuela and the Quito Audience was only part of to its stepmother. Even in his Federal State book he states: this Viceroyalty. In other words, that during the epoch “The nature says that there starts another country, another of the colony, the Isthmus was not subordinated to what town, another entity and the politics cannot be contrary to now it is the Colombian territory, but instead, to New its powerful and inscrutable manifestations”. Grenade. Later in 1821, Panama declares itself free and independent from the Spanish government, without the Also in a short paragraph generated by the argument help of Colombia. It became part not of the Colombia that that he held with Gil Colunje, Justo Arosemena expressly we know today (which at that time was New Grenade), accepted that just as he “… and in not greater degree…” but instead to the one that has been called the Great the governor of Santiago de La Guardia, “… was (also) in Colombia, in other words, to that juridical-political entity, favor of the Independence of the State of Panama.” Justo conceived by Bolivar, and that besides the New Grenade, Arosemena leaves in this way established his inclination was also formed by Venezuela and Ecuador. for the Panamanian independence. And in 1856 in one of his numerous journal debates, he JUSTO AROSEMENA´S VISION presents a really intrepid comment when he writes: “…the Isthmus has the same right By the 15th of July of 1855 the to separate from the New Grenade, as Constituent Assembly of the it had when it separated from Spain”. Sovereign State of Panama was convoked, elected by popular REASON FOR THE UNION TO voting within a framework COLOMBIA IN 1821 of undiscussable civism and transparency, which It is worth to Justo Arosemena, fnally issues the Political Father of the point out that, Constitution on the 17th of Panamanian after becoming September of 1855 and that Nationality. independent elects Justo Arosemena as from Spain, the Superior Chief of the his own limitations as small, State. This conversion of poor and weak country, the Isthmus in a sovereign impose to Panama the need Federal State, and that in to assure an important the practice fnished with and essential economic, the unitary regime of social and commercial government, is followed support, which leads the in the rest of the nation, Isthmus towards a union resulting in 1857 in the with Colombia, at that conversion of Antioquia, time led by Bolivar. This Bolivar, Boyacá, Cauca, union would demand a Cundinamarca, Magdalena series of compensations and Santander, as federal that implied a shaping of the states. Justo Arosemena, Panamanian national project recognized as the Father of through the exercise of a special the Panamanian Nationality, treatment, from the political reaffrms the existence of and economic viewpoint. Such the Panamanian nation. It is treatment would imply the cession approved when he states the of the sovereign and jurisdictional huge geographical, political, rights by the Isthmus, giving as trade economic, cultural and administrative the full political autonomy through a differences that distinguished the rest of federal system and the upcoming of a transit the New Grenade. He accepts it when he vocation to exploit our geographical position. criticizes the indolence, the lack of interest and With this, the Isthmus would become reactivated as the abandonment from Bogota, which causes putting that commercial empire that stood out in the epoch of in danger the permanency of the land in New Grenade the Portobello Fairs. But our clamors to achieve that so territory. And he strengthens it when he demands a good longed political, economic and social wellbeing, were not government that allows the Isthmus to keep itself faithful listened in Bogota.
56 Electoral World Magazine // January 2018 ORIGINS OF OUR REPUBLIC. PANAMA.
the Supremes in 1839 facing the suppression of some agreements by Jose Ignacio de Marquez, the 1854 coup By the 15th of July of 1855 of José María Melo against the Constitution and the the Constituent Assembly Congress in favor of the army and the armed revolution against it, headed by Tomás Cipriano Mosquera against of the Sovereign State of the conservative government of Mariano Ospina, the Panama was convoked, elected revocation of the Constitution of Rio Negro and the re- establishment of the centralism in 1886 whose responsible by popular voting within a person was Rafael Núñez and the one-thousand-day framework of undiscussable war from 1899 to 1902 between the liberals and the conservatives. It was a convulsed, bloody and dramatic civism and transparency, which century. finally issues the Political The tendency of the Panamanians to the separation or to Constitution on the 17th of the federation, was also a logical and natural proclivity September of 1855 and that to their social, economic and political aspirations, as well as the geographic situation of the Isthmus. These elects Justo Arosemena as the realities caused to be mandatory the establishment of a Superior Chief of the State. very particular legislation that would become adjusted to the innate needs of their people subject to the ties and restrictions that resulted from a distant and uninterested central government. The government autonomy was PANAMANIAN REALITY IN THE COLOMBIAN PANAMA necessary with the objective of attending the needs of the Isthmians, different to the rest of the population. With the union to Colombia, the minimum that the Panamanians expected were the reforms against the It would not be useful at all to register the Peace, rigidness of the central system, which would constitute Friendship, Navigation and Commerce Treaty called an impassable obstacle against the Isthmus progress in Mallarino – Bidlack in 1846, with the United States. the commercial and industrial felds. The only apparent This would make mandatory to guarantee positively concern by Bogota was to keep the Isthmus dominated, and effciently to the New Grenade their property and without paying attention to the urgent need of those sovereignty rights over the Isthmian territory, as well as reforms, which would degenerate manifestations of its perfect neutrality. The reason for this Treaty, it is worth unease and unrest in the population. Panama was, to clarify, was with the intention to make concrete a very hence, a permanent soup to cultivate the antipathy and bad formula that the New Grenade had to guarantee their animadversion towards the central government. And it is sovereignty over Panama, later on to the reincorporation not uncommon that each time revolutionary movements of the Isthmus on the 31st of December of 1841, after the of military nature that beat the rest of the nation, were third secession in 1840. This agreement would promote a presented, the Isthmians took advantage of that situation plurality of interventions during its validity. to liberate their separatist feelings. There we fnd the movements of independence of Jose Domingo Espinar ORIGIN OF A MOVEMENT in 1830, Juan Eligio Alzuru in 1831, the “First Republic” of Tomas Herrera in 1840 and 1841 and the autonomy Facing a chaotic disjunctive and an uncertain future, granted by the Agreement of Colon in 1861 signed by the Isthmians put their last hopes for wellbeing and for the Isthmian Santiago de la Guardia and the Colombian progress in the construction of the interoceanic canal Manuel Murillo Toro. thanks to the approval of the Herran-Hay Treaty, signed on the 22 of January and ratifed on the 17th of March The XIX Colombian Century, full of intrigues, conspiracy of 1903 by the Senate of the United States. Towards and tricks, led that country to infnite bellicose the month of April of 1903, José Agustín Arango starts confrontations, coups, revolutions and civil wars. Where the preparations for the secession of Panama giving his the small Isthmus was submitted to the great motherland, conviction that the Herran-Hay would be rejected by the it immerses in that bellicose swinging inheriting the Colombian Senate, to the point that he would refuse to Panamanians the blood and the death of its elder brothers, attend the sessions of the Congress as the Senator of the the Colombians. We can mention the Revolution of Department of Panama. José Agustín Arango, according
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 57 Teddy Roosevelt and Manuel Amador Guerrero in the city of Panama in November of 1906.
to his own words, “after a mature meditation, with the THE BLACK LEGEND consent and approval of (his) children and sons in law”, demands to captain Beers, Fleet Agent of the Railroad Facing the Independence of Panama from Colombia in Company of Panama and who had foreseen to travel 1903, the black legend favored the supposed invention of to the United States on vacation, an interview in which, a national State, through the direct and total intervention by exposing his separatist intentions, he assured that he of the United States. Panama is defned as an artifcial could “count with the unanimous support of the country” creation, whose heroes were simple puppets with threads and that him, as promoter of the movement “would be moved by THEODORE ROOSEVELT, from the North, in the front lines, together with other prestigious men and that also put the destiny of the Republic in the hands with not fear of failure”. James R. Beers, to whom Arango of a French speculator and adventurous man. considered a “a respectable man, of healthy and clear criterion, an absolute integral and honorable person”, The black legend ignores conveniently and comfortably accepts with the greatest prudency and discretion the the historical facts and fundaments that occurred along position commended of probing the reaction of his the XIX century, since the frst cry of Independence in Los superiors overseas, regarding the organization of a Santos Village and our separation from Spain on the 10th possible secession movement. and 28th of November of 1821 respectively, the secessions of 1830, 1831 and 1840, the creation of the Federal State in In the document titled “Data for the history of the 1855, the Incident of the Watermelon Slice in 1856 and independence of the Isthmus, proclaimed on the 3rd of the autonomy granted by the Colon Agreement in 1861. November of 1903”, Arango affrms that he was the one Historical realities of our Very Panamanian nature, that if that conceived the idea of proclaiming the independence we go back to the Viewing of the Southern Sea in 1513 by facing the foreseen ruin of the Isthmus that would cause Vasco Núñez De Balboa, we are left with the small size of the rejection of the Herran – Hay Treaty, transmitting the Isthmus subject since then to the dangers that derive the “delicate mission” to New York at the beginning of from the attractiveness of its geographical position. This the month of July. The Arango´s document is endorsed last one is the natural resource that brought the interest by Carlos Constantino Arosemena and Nicanor A. De of the great empires given the magnitude that, as colossal Obarrio in their “Historical Data regarding some of the work, would imply the construction of an inter oceanic initial movements of the independence”. canal. The black legend neither takes into consideration
58 Electoral World Magazine // January 2018 ORIGINS OF OUR REPUBLIC. PANAMA. the anarchy, the misrule and nor the constant fratricide piece of an Independence without physical violence. Of struggles in Colombia, that would hinder to the Isthmus course that money few. Facing a Colombian Battalion any possibility of progress, all of this together with the reduced in resources and military elements, and facing economical prostration caused by the failure of the a possible military intervention, what could we pretend French canal project and the devastating effects of the that the soldiers of the Colombia Battalion would make? One Thousand Day War. Now, Could the independence To play to be heroes to protect those who had them in be achieved if the Herran - Hay Treaty would have been the abandon and the misery? Ad if to hand in money is signed? Possibly not, or at least not at the moment in a crime of the offended country, let us not forget that in which it would take place. But this situation does not the French Revolution, many innocent heads were taken hinder legitimacy to the movement, since the approval of off under the name of human freedom, of equality and of that Treaty constituted a completely autonomous Isthmian fraternity. What is worse? If the money is not justifed, feeling and different from the one led in Colombia. the loss of human lives, either guilty or innocent would justify it? Money, it is worth to clarify, whose payments Were José Agustín Arango and Manuel Amador Guerrero were offcial with laws issued later on by the National linked to the Railroad Company of Panama, which was a Assembly once the Republic was constituted. property of the North American people? Yes, of course, since they were both staffs of it. But that situation, instead Philippe Bunau Varilla neither had the faculty, nor was of being used to take away any signal of legitimacy to he authorized to sign any Treaty and this was known by their performance and to describe them as surrendered the American authorities. and when the true Panamanian to the imperialism, must make us understand the reason representatives, Manuel Amador Guerrero and Federico for which they would become the main actors of the Boyd arrive to Washington, it was too late because the separation movement and would carry out the pertinent Isthmian Canal Convention had been signed a little contacts to obtain the support from the United States. before with the premeditation, malice and advantage. And facing the still real possibilities that the United States The black legend incites to discredit the secessionist would turn their look to Nicaragua, or decide to build by movement for not having given an armed battle full of force a canal or leave the Isthmus on their own to fall in the heroic episodes. But the Isthmus, with a population of Colombia hands, before pressures of the King Missions 380 thousand habitants, approximately, and a territory of practically give away the concession to get back the extension 14 times smaller than the rest of Colombia, was Isthmus, what could we, the human Panamanians, have not in the condition of militarily fght against Colombia. done today, facing the circumstances of those far away November and December of 1903, when it was decided to There are other situations that consider the black legend ratify the Treaty. There are three possibilities: as the performance of Roosevelt, the intervention of Bunau Varilla and the linking of “Wall Street”. Due to 1. To raise in arms and to challenge the Empire; reasons of time these themes can be commented with the panel members.
LEGITIMACY OF THE 1903 INDEPENDENCE
It is very comfortable, more than one hundred years And it is not uncommon that ago, to question our heroes why in the development of each time revolutionary the secession movement of 1903 there was not blood shedding, because the North American people supported movements of military nature us, why we assigned Bunau Varilla as negotiator, or why that beat the rest of the the money was fowing instead of blood. nation, were presented, the The Isthmus was tired of blood. The One Thousand Day Isthmians took advantage of War had divided the Isthmus, disintegrated families, spoiled friendships, and turned off the lives of very good that situation to liberate their Panamanians, from one side or from the other. And our separatist feelings. independence spirit made the miracle of putting together ardent enemies who had fought against each other sometime before, in the battlefeld to achieve the master
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 59 The tendency of the Panamanians to the separation or to the federation, was also a logical and natural proclivity to their social, economic and political aspirations
2. To pleasantly accept our going back to Colombia; or of the Isthmians in achieving the independence through an armed struggle, are null. Arango somehow becomes 3. To allow that the canal could be built in Nicaragua. the representative of the freedom motivations of the Panamanians strengthened by constant harms from In case that some of these facts have occurred, what could the Colombians against the Isthmians during the XIX we have achieved? One of the following results: century. Motivations that agree with the expansionist interests of the United States, with the intention of the 1. To be militarily crushed by the United States French people in selling the bankrupt French company and the greed of the supposed speculators. Once the and to become a Canal zone from border to border; road of the belligerence was excluded, the only one left was the one of the conjure, managed by Jose Agustin 2. To have a Colombian canal; or Arango, taking advantage of his position of special agent of the Railroad Company of Panama, and who later on 3. Nowadays to be part of Colombia, thinking added Manuel Amador Guerrero, who was also a staff of about the killed traitors instead of heroes (and this company as a surgeon physician. without a canal). The contact achieved by the heroes in the United The United States protected with its battleships the States through captain James R. Beers, the support of Independence from the military point of view. At that time the General Esteban Huertas as decisive factor for the the ships ´Nashville, Dixie, Atlanta, Maine, Mayfower and Isthmian cause, the fact that the Colombia Battalion Hamilton´ arrived to the Colon port, and the battleships: was dispersed through the Isthmus facing a supposed ´Boston, Marblehead, Concord, Wyoming and Prairie´ Nicaraguan invasion to the Isthmus, to keep in Colon arrived to Panama Bay. One thing is that the United States the Tiradores Battalion and the presence of the head of had supported the independence of the Isthmus, as in fact the Governor´s offce of Panama by a man who was not it did. And another thing, very different, it is to pretend hostile to the secession as José Domingo De Obaldia, to paint Roosevelt as the promotor and executor of the allows the conjured ones to end the movement without Panamanian secession, ignoring a whole documental and shooting not a single bullet (except for the shooting of testimonial chronology that clarifes the identity of the Raul Chevalier from Las Bóvedas, responding to two managers and actors of the movement. And if we are bombs of the ´Bogota Ship´ during its retirement, that going to criticize the heroes because they looked for the killed the Chinese Kong Wong Yee and the horse of the support of the North Americans, then let us criticize and assistant Town Councilor and the signer of the act of question their heroes because they looked for the support independence, Enrique Linares De Obaldia). of France in their struggle against England. Or let us also question Simon Bolivar when he worked to obtain the Our achievement, although it was not a heroic epic, it did support from England for his liberating cause. have main actors. Let us remember this. On the 3rd of November of 1903 a crowd headed by General Domingo But the most important aspect is the doubtless acting of Jose Diaz De Obaldia, Pedro A. Diaz and Carlos Clement, Agustin Arango as promoter of the secessionist movement. have an appointment with the Motherland in the Santa The independent initiative is born from him and he leaves Ana Park and it gives the start to the “Independence it stated in his “Data for the history of the independence March”, José Gabriel Duque, commander in chief of the of the Isthmus proclaimed on the 3rd of November of Fire Fighters Department, organized them to take the 1903.” The proverbial “tipping point” of the day was weapons of the Chiriquí Military Headquarter in favor defnitely the rejection of the Herran – Hay Treaty by the of the new Republic; Colonel James R. Shaler in his Colombian Senate, by having put the Panamanians their condition of super intendent of the Railroad, says ´no´ last hope of wellbeing and of progress in the construction to the order of transporting the Colombian troops from of an interoceanic canal. But the possibilities of success the Atlantic coast to the capital, alleging a supposed
60 Electoral World Magazine // January 2018 ORIGINS OF OUR REPUBLIC. PANAMA.
debt from the government with the company in the payment of its fnancial obligations; General Esteban Huertas arrests the commanders members of its Top Staff; Colonel Leoncio Tascón, who was equipped in Penonome, with part of the Colombia Battalion since the 25th of October, in order to face a supposed invasion of Nicaraguans to the Isthmus, immediately embraces the secessionist cause; Lieutenant Raul Chevalier answers with shootings to the artillery from Las Bovedas, the attack of cannons perpetrated by the “Bogota” Vapor that was in the hands of Colonel Jorge Martinez Landinez; Alejandro De La Guardia does not expect that the echo of those cannons could be dissipated, when he takes the fag of the new Republic and followed by a multitude, he carries it with pride by the Central Avenue and the A Avenue; Manuel Amador Guerrero sends a telegraph to his right-hand man in Colon, Porfrio Melendez that the “sancocho (soup) is about to start” and this one, at the same time, sends his daughter Aminta to Panama, who was only 17 year old, with a secret message for Dr. Amador Guerrero.
The night of the 3rd of November it was installed in Central Hotel the Provisional Board of Government, formed by José Agustín Arango, Tomás Arias and Federico Boyd, who will sign the Manifesto to the Nation, written by Eusebio A. Morales; the next day and after having convoked the people to an Open Cabildo the night before, the Municipal Board of the District of Panama, presided by Demetrio H. Brid, and the Act of Independence written by Carlos A. Mendoza, is signed, being the signatories as main town councilors, Cover of the second edition of the book: The black legend, Brid himself (President), Rafael Aizpuru, Agustin Arias deceit and fiction. Feraud, Manuel J. Cucalon, Jose Maria Chiari R., Ricardo M. Arango, Fabio Arosemena, Maria Mendez, Alcides Dominguez, and Oscar Mckay, as well as the Secretary of the Council, Ernesto J. Goti; General Domingo Diaz de Colonel Eliseo Torres with the Tiradores Battalion, Obaldia assumes the defense of the city of Panama and assuring in this way the independence; and Manuel Victor Manuel Alvarado surveils the vapor ´Orinoco´, Amador Guerrero submits to Ramon Valdés López, promoter of the independent cause in Aguadulce, a telegraph that simply said “Matea has arrived”. Towards the month of April of 1903, José Agustín Arango In synthesis, Jose Agustin Arango is the undiscussable promoter of the separation movement. The ones that starts the preparations for the create and execute the movement are Panamanians and secession of Panama giving the Isthmian people are the ones that walk the streets to defend the independence proclaimed in open councils. his conviction that the Herran- Those who risk their lives are Panamanians and neither a Hay would be rejected by the William Nelson Cromwell from Paris, nor a Bunau Varilla from Washington, nor the apparent speculators, totally Colombian Senate unknown that the black legend so much mentions.
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 61 EVENTS
Launching of the publicity campaign of the Electoral Tribunal for the elections of the 5th of May of 2019
With the motto “Do your part”, the Electoral Tribunal of Panama carried out the launching of its advertising campaign for the electoral process of the General Elections of the 5th of May of 2019.
In his speech, the magistrate president of the Electoral Tribunal, Heriberto Araúz Sánchez expressed that this new campaign is an institutional effort based on three very clear objectives: To promote the participation, To educate the citizenship, and To teach over the process.
Under these three objectives and based on the motto of the campaign, the message is that “if we all do our part, on the 5th of May of 2019, we can feel proud of being one of the countries of the region with greatest electoral participation of the region”, explained magistrate Araúz.
The outline of the advertising promotion looks to manage its messages in a quick and personalized way, to explain the virtues and scopes of the Law 29 that reformed the Electoral Code, to promote the informed vote, to encourage the participation of youngsters and adults in the 2019 elections; for which it makes a special emphasis in the mandatory nature of verifcation of the voting place and name in the Electoral Roll in order to vote.
The campaign, “Do your part”, besides the traditional communications means, will also be promoted since its launching in the main social networks.
62 Electoral World Magazine // January 2018 EVENTS
The Electoral Tribunal celebrates the International Day of the Democracy
With a colorful parade that walked one of the main ways very important that they assume their commitment with of the Panamanian capital, headed by the music bands the democracy through the exaltation of civism, the civic of several high schools, the Electoral Tribunal and the and moral values, besides the commitment to conform a Ministry of Education commemorated the International better country. Day of the Democracy. With this celebration, the Electoral Tribunal stands out The parade concluded in the Plaza of the Democratic the importance of protecting, cultivating and enhancing Culture of the Electoral Tribunal, where it was received the democratic values in a functional society, which is by the magistrate Alfredo Juncá Wendehake, second vice based on a State of rights and duties. president of the Electoral Tribunal and directors of the institution, together with the authorities of the Ministry The liberation of dozens of white and blue balloons, of Education. The activity was organized by the Center of representatives of the maximum electoral courtroom of Democratic Studies. the country, constituted the closing framework of this civic-cultural event. In his welcome speech to the youngsters and special guests to the civic activity, the magistrate Juncá expressed that the youth is the future of the nation, and that it is
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 63 EVENTS
Experts evaluate the repercussions of the electoral reforms for the 2019 general elections
The grouping of journalists and communications means (CONNECTAS), in alliance with the Electoral Tribunal and the Center of Democratic Initiatives (CIDEM), carried out the panel, How do the electoral reforms impact the next elections?, with the objective of making a detailed study of the Law 29 that reformed the Electoral Code.
Questions such as, Who fnances the politics in Panama? Will the political parties have to be transparent? Who makes the decisions within these organizations? Why is it important that these organizations assure accountability to the citizenship?, were some of the questions analyzed by the group of studious persons of the Social Sciences, integrated by Maribel Jaén, of the Commission of Justice and Peace; Harry Brown, of the Center of Democratic Initiatives of Panama (CIDEM); the deputy Quibian Panay; Roberto Troncoso of the Pro Electoral Reforms Citizen Forum, Carlos Horacio Diaz, executive director of the Center of Democratic Studies; and Laura Puertas, Peruvian journalist who acted as the moderator.
The panel members answered all the questions from the audience and approached the most important aspects of the amendments made to the Electoral Code, through the Law 29. Among these, the independent candidacies, the upper limits to the public and private fnancing, the electoral propaganda, use of the social networks in the campaign, the donations, the straight-party vote, the electronics vote, the participation of the woman in politics, the advanced vote and the times of the campaign.
This panel was developed in the Hall of Events of the Electoral Tribunal with the participation of special guests, representatives of different organizations and the social communications means.
64 Electoral World Magazine // January 2018 EVENTS
II International Congress of Democracy and Electoral Right
The Electoral Tribunal of Panama inaugurated this During the Tuesday 21st and Wednesday 22nd of Monday, 20th of November, the II International Congress November specifc themes such as: ´The innovations of Democracy and Electoral Right, event that took place in the Panamanian substantive and procedural norm´, until the 22nd of November and that gathers recognized ´Models of the compared Electoral Right in the auditing academics of the continent to analyze aspects related to of the entity that is electoral rector of expenditures of the regulation of the public and private political fnancing campaign´, ´The advances in the Due Process and the in Latin America and Panama, the regulation of the incorporation of the processes for penal electoral crimes campaigns and the incorporation of the penal electoral to the SPA´, ´Measures to differentiate the jurisdictional crimes to the Accusatory Penal System (SPA). and political aspects that could affect the due electoral process´, ´The role of the social networks in the electoral The act of inauguration of this congress was headed by campaigns´, ´Learnings of the political participation of the the magistrate president Heriberto Araúz Sánchez and women to achieve the parity democracy´, among others, his colleagues Eduardo Valdés Escoffery and Alfredo were presented. Juncá Wendehake. It also had the attendance of national directors and sub directors and administrative staffs, In this activity, organized through the Center of Democratic representatives from political parties, members of the Studies of the Electoral Tribunal and sponsored by the civil society and special guests. Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, the themes were developed by international and national experts, among them, we The magistrate Araúz Sánchez presented the institutional can mention Lucas Sierra, sub director of the Center of message, in which he expressed, among other things, Public Studies of Chile; Idayris Yolima Carrillo Pérez, that the conception and crystallization of the electoral magistrate of the National Electoral Council of Colombia; th reform that resulted in the Law 29 is a reform without and Raul Chanamé Orbe, magistrate of the National Jury precedents in our country, and he added that the changes of Elections of Peru. of this new normative rest over the basis of the principles of greater transparency, accountability, equity in the Among the national speakers stand out the frst vice contest and strengthening of the electoral justice. He took president magistrate Eduardo Valdés Escoffery; the the opportunity to welcome the international and national substitute magistrate Myrtha Varela de Durán; the national speakers to this academic event. director of Electoral Organization, Osman Valdés, and the sub director, Santana Diaz; the director of Auditing of the The vice minister of the Presidency, Mr. Salvador Sánchez, Political Financing of the Electoral Tribunal, Gerineldo also spoke to point out the importance of carrying out this Sousa Melo; the advisor of the Superior Offce, Juan congress and he commented that the preservation of the Carlos Pérez, and other ones. democratic structures is a common mandatory concern for all the countries of America. He also pointed out that With these important conferences, the attendants had the within the framework of the democratic mechanisms it is opportunity of nurturing and reinforce their juridical and essential that there exists a transparent regulation for the their electoral political knowledge. choosing of the leaders through electoral processes.
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 65 EVENTS The Electoral World reinvents itself and reveals its new image
PhD. Juan Pablo Pozo, international writer; Alfredo Juncá With a new and innovated image, the Electoral World Wendehake, magistrate second vicepresident of the Electoral magazine was presented to the public opinion, which is Tribunal and Mundo Electoral Magazine director; Erasmo published and edited by the Electoral Tribunal with a Pinilla, ex magistrate of the Electoral Tribunal of Panama. content directed to national and international readers.
For the number 30th edition, the Full Members of the without missing the academic level. It is this way, because maximum electoral tribunal decided to generate a series of we want that the youngsters participate in the writing of changes with the objective of making a lot more attractive articles for this magazine”. this publication to the readers. These modifcations are circumscribed to the design of the cover and interior He pointed out that the objective is to launch an edition at pages, size of the articles, besides adding a broad multi- the Iberian American level in which the article writers can chromatic package, which is printed in Spanish and in be young people between 18 and 35 years old. The idea English separately. The presentation of the Electoral is that all that knowledge and experiences of the electoral World Magazine is printed and it is also sent digitally ambit can be presented in the magazine. through the International System of Electoral News (ISEN) to more than 700 readers at the world level, that He stated that the key word is inclusion, since the young are connected with this service. generations replace the old generations and it is a duty of the older ones to pass these sets of knowledge so that we The launching of the new image of Electoral World can keep growing in society. took place with a bright event that counted with the participation of the magistrates Eduardo Valdés The president of the National Electoral Council of Escoffery, Alfredo Juncá Wendehake and Myrtha Varela the Republic of Ecuador, Juan Pablo Pozo, was the Duran, who were accompanied by local and international host international speaker. He stood out that Panama distinguished personalities of the juridical-electoral feld. contributes in a direct way with the democratic destiny During his presentation, the magistrate Alfredo Juncá of Latin America and the world, through this publication Wendehake stated that “we are starting with a more which is an academic space that has achieved to become dynamic design that is more attractive to the youth, but a link of our nations and democracies, through more
66 Electoral World Magazine // January 2018 than 125 article writers from 30 countries, among them: Argentina, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, El Salvador, Spain, Honduras, Mexico, Norway, Colombia, Ukraine and Italy.
In representation of the national article writers, Julio Cisne stood out that it is necessary to comply with the pending task of educating the youngsters in democracy, so that they can demand more from the political class.
The Electoral World magazine keeps a fow of information between 80 and 100 pages in its publications, with a series of interesting articles. For this thirtieth edition, 1. themes such as: ´The political right and inclusion in the electoral processes´ (Ecuador), ´The auditing of the resources of political parties and other bound subjects´ (Mexico), ´Vindicate the word politics´, an interview with
2.
3.
4. 5. international expert Julio Yao, an article over the signing of the General Agreement of Collaboration between the Presentation of Mundo Electoral magazine Electoral Tribunal of Panama and the Electoral Tribunal 1. new image. of the Judicial Power of the Mexican Federation (TEPJF), among others, stand out. Mundo Electoral magazine director; Yara I. Campo B., Executive Institutional Director; It is important to point out that these changes in the 2. diagraming and the design of the Electoral World is and, Eduardo Valdés Escoffery; magistrate oriented to keep to the usual readers, such as university first vicepresident of the Electoral Tribunal of professors, academics and experts in the theme who are Panama. eager of information of the electoral feld; as well as to caption the attention of a more varied and generic public Presentation of the folkloric ballet “Ritmo y from all the sectors of the society. 3. Raíces Panameñas”.
Background of the Electoral World Magazine Lorena González and Cristina Torres, Mundo More than one decade has passed since the idea of creating 4. Electoral magazine national writers. in the Electoral Tribunal of Panama a specialized magazine that would offer national and international spaces where Pedro Pessoa E. Costa, Portugal Embassador, to publish analytical, historical, and academic articles of 5. in the company of Mundo Electoral magazine the electoral ambit, was conceived. director.
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 67 EVENTS
As a product of this effort, Electoral World was published With the arrival of the magistrate, Alfredo Juncá, to the for the frst time on the 22nd of January of 2008. Its Electoral Tribunal in January of 2017, a new stage for launching and presentation constituted a great satisfaction the Electoral World started. Product of his interest for for the Full Members of the hall of agreements, staffs and everything that is related with the communication and members of the Panamanian political organizations, that the social networks, leads him to visualize and to start a were present in the materialization of this new institutional project to add to the magazine new aspects and to make it initiative for the beneft of the world electoral community. more attractive, agile and agreeing with the new thematic and editorial trends. Attached to the editorial concept with which it was conceived, in the frst edition, as in other editions, it was Re-structured, but without losing its essence, this seen the diversity of criteria expressed through the writings quarterly publication is presented to Panama and to Latin of national distinguished experts, from the size of Luis H. America with a renewed and innovating design, that will Moreno, Bladimir Berrio Lemm, Isabel De Saint Malo de keep it as one of the best specialized magazines of the Alvarado, Rafael Candanedo; and the international experts continent. Due to its successful trajectory, Electoral World Joseph Thompson, Roberto Cuellar, and Daniel Zovatto will keep projecting itself as that means of communication among many others. All of them wrote articles that were characterized by its teaching and promotional role of the of great interest and very useful for those that day by day civic-electoral values that must prevail in the democratic face the electoral stride, not only in Latin America, but also systems of the world. in other latitudes. Reestructurada pero sin perder su esencia, esta publicación In a short time, the Electoral World magazine had a cuatrimestral se presenta a Panamá y Latinoamérica great impact in the preference of the reader public due con un diseño y contenido renovado, que la mantendrá to the quality of its printing, the high level of the themes como una de las mejores revistas especializadas del analyzed in each one of its articles and the beauty of the continente. Por su exitosa trayectoria, Mundo Electoral photographic views, that show exuberant views and seguirá proyectándose como ese medio de comunicación Panamanian traditions. All these qualities made that it caracterizado por su rol docente y promocional de los would become positioned as one of the most expected valores cívicos- electorales que deben prevalecer en los magazines by the international electoral organisms, as sistemas democráticos del mundo. well as by the embassies, government and private entities established in the country.
Mundo Electoral magazine editorial board: Jorge Bravo, national editor; Raymond De Lisser, graphic designer; Daysi Samaniego, official translator; Lizbeth Reyes, international editor; Alfredo Juncá Wendehake, magistrate second vicepresident of the Electoral Tribunal and magazine director; Cynthia Paolini, production coordinator; Cristobal Navarro, style correction; José Jiménez and Wilfredo Smith, Electoral Tribunal printing department.
68 Electoral World Magazine // January 2018 EVENTS The electoral training is promoted in Spain electoral
Signature of the covenant with the University Castilla-La Mancha
Signature of the Agreement with the University of Yurrita, lord rector and legal representative of the Castilla-La Mancha / Visit to the Camilo José Cela of University of Castilla-La Mancha. Madrid University. The agreement looks to promote the academic The top authorities of the Electoral Tribunal traveled to and cultural collaboration, besides fomenting the Spain with the objective of managing the possibility of institutional relations to achieve greater levels of training in that country to electoral workers and political internalization between both entities, in those areas of leaders. possible cooperation that are of common interest.
The magistrates Heriberto Araúz Sánchez, Eduardo Among the commitments signed between both Valdés Escoffery and Alfredo Juncá Wendehake met institutions are: the joint research, the execution of with the rector of the Camilo José Cela of Madrid activities, international inter-university programs of University, Samuel Martín-Barbero, and deans of that cooperation, orientation in electoral themes and the house of study, besides the ambassador of Panama in diffusion of results, that will be established through Spain, Milton Henríquez. This university is specialized projects of work mutually decided by the academic in Iberian American Programs of Governance. staffs and the institutions.
Part of the work agenda was also the signature of an The magistrates also had interviews with representatives agreement between the Electoral Tribunal and the of the Town councils of Alcobendas, which won the University of Castilla-La Mancha (Spain), which has European Award of Transparence. as its objective to facilitate the academic cooperation in the felds of teaching, the research and the training, in The meeting served as framework to receive information programs either for bachelor of science as well as for regarding the methods of transparence and the use of graduate degrees. technologies by the Town council to foment the citizen participation. This document was signed by the magistrate president, Heriberto Araúz Sánchez and Miguel Ángel Collado
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 69 EVENTS
“Good practices, learning and challenges of the social inclusion and politics of the women in Central America, Mexico and Dominican Republic” seminar
The Supreme Tribunal of Elections of Costa Rica (TSE), From the Electoral Tribunal of Panama, B.Sc. Yara through its Institute of Formation and Studies in Campo, Executive Institutional Director, participated. Democracy (IFED), and the Organization of American She explained that the normative advances in matter of States, the Institute of Juridical Research of the National political participation of the woman in the countries are Autonomous University of Mexico, the National under analysis, besides, themes in which it is necessary to University and the Network of Female Political Scientists work in parallel to achieve a true equality in the indexes and the National Institute of the Women (INAMU), of participation, were discussed more in depth. organized the International seminar “Good practices, learning and challenges of the social and political The magistrate Campo also added that in the electoral inclusion of the women in Central America, Mexico and organisms it is necessary to reinforce the education in Dominican Republic” on the 7th and 8th of September in values such as the tolerance and the pluralism, free of San José, Costa Rica. stereotypes; to organize training programs in equality of gender and human rights for journalists; to sensitize the This event counted with more than 10 specialists from political parties on the importance of the participation of the whole region which exposed in four work tables. more women at the candidacy level, among others.
70 Electoral World Magazine // January 2018 EVENTS
Brazil and Panama share electoral information
The authorities of the Electoral Tribunal made a visit to Brazil to share jurisdictional and auditing experiences in matter of fnancing of campaigns, annulment of elections and the use of State resources in campaigns.
The magistrates Heriberto Araúz Sánchez, Eduardo Valdés Escoffery and Alfredo Juncá Wendehake conversed with their colleagues of the Superior Electoral Tribunal of Brazil (TSE, which is the maximum electoral corporation in Brazil), as part of the acts previous to the coming electoral tournament, that will be celebrated in May of 2019.
The Panamanian electoral authorities also participated in a presentation over the advances and perspectives of the “Brazilian electoral justice”, presented by Dr. Ciro Leal, chief of the International Advisory of the TSE. Later on, they attended a meeting with the chief of the Advisory of Finally, the electoral authorities were received in an Tests of Electoral and Party Accounts, Dr. Eron Pessoa, audience by the President of the TSE, minister Gilmar who developed the theme of “The fnancing of the Mendes, the general secretary Luciano Fuck and the political parties and auditing of the electoral campaigns”. chief of the International Advisory, Dr. Ciro Leal.
Through the minister of the TSE, Tarcisio Vieira, they knew over “The jurisprudence of the nullity of the elections due to excessive expenditures and the misuse of the public resources”.
Heriberto Araúz Sánchez, magistrate president; Eduardo Valdés Escoffery, magistrate first vicepresident; Alfredo Juncá Wendehake, magistrate second vicepresident, were received by electoral authorities of Brasil.
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IX Iberian American Conference over Electoral Justice and First plenary Assembly of the World Network of Electoral Justice.
The substitute magistrate of the Electoral Tribunal, Myrtha Varela Durán, participated in the IX Iberian American Conference over Electoral Justice, activity that was carried out in the city of San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico, during the 8th and 9th of November of 2017.
The magistrate participated as speaker in the panel “State of Right and Democratic Integrity from the Perspective of Electoral Justice”, where she analyzed a judgment dictated by the Electoral Tribunal of Panama, which showed the importance of complying with the due process and the fulfllment of the law in the internal processes of the political parties.
The magistrate Varela was also present in the First Plenary meeting of the World Network of Electoral Justice, activity that was organized by the Electoral Tribunal of the Judicial Power of the Federation (TEPJF) and the International Institute for the Democracy and Electoral Assistance (international IDEA) on the 10th and 11th of November in the same city. The main objective of this meeting was to create the World Network of Electoral Justice, which will be a space for the sharing of the experiences of the contentious and electoral tribunals of the diverse regions, facing the complex contents that the democracy lives.
72 Electoral World Magazine // January 2018 EVENTS
XIV Meeting of CLARCIEV
Directors of the Electoral Tribunal had an outstanding Periodically the countries that are members of the participation during the celebration of the XIV Meeting of CLARCIEV meet to join efforts and to look for common the Latin American and the Caribbean Council of the Civil objectives to provide their members with integral public Registry, Identity and Vital Statistics (CLARCIEV), which policies, that allow a management of transversal axis in was developed in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from the 8th to the registries of birth and identifcation, creating with 10th of November. this conscience among the States and in the population over the need of having solid institutions of the Civil The national director of the Civil Registry, Sharon Sinclaire Registry. Dumanoir, was in charge of presenting and executive report of the Table of Management of the Knowledge and The meeting gathered the top authorities in matter Human Talent, led by Panama and Peru, which gathers of registry and identifcation of the countries of Latin the “lines of action to strengthen the human talent and America and the Caribbean to share knowledge and to reinforce the knowledge in areas such as documental good practices. management, technological innovation, and statistics”. The delegation of the Electoral Tribunal was formed John Palm Sasso, national sub-director of Personal Identity by Sharon Sinclaire Dumanoir, national director of the Card, participated in the panel “Advances of the digital Civil Registry, and Boris Corcho, subdirector; Gilberto identity”, together with recognized experts that offer Estrada, national director of Personal Identifcation their services in the different organisms of the registry of Card, and John Palm, sub-director; Yamileth Quintero, persons in Latin America. regional sub-director of the Civil Registry of Panama Center; and Francisco Zaldívar, lawyer of the Superior Offce.
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 73 EVENTS
X Specialized Course for State staffs over the utilization of the Inter American System of Protection of the Human Rights
The Inter American Institute of Human Rights carried From the Electoral Tribunal of Panama participated in out from the 13th to the 17th of November, the “X such important course: The President Magistrate Heriberto Specialized Course for State staffs over the utilization of Araúz, the B.Sc. Julio Rodríguez, legal assistant of the the Inter American System of Protection of the Human superior offce, B.Sc. Luis Carlos Zapata, lawyer of the Rights.” superior offce, B. Sc. Yanisselly Ariza, assistant of the superior Offce, B.Sc. Yeremi Barría, lawyer of the National The objective of this course was the acquisition of Direction of the Civil Registry, B.Sc. Andreína Acevedo, knowledge on protection of the Human Rights, as well regional Director of the Civil Registry of Veraguas, and as to strengthen the capacity to adequately use the B.Sc. Yilka Pérez, legal advisor of the National Direction of juridical instruments and the jurisprudence of the SIDH the Civil Registry. either at the local level as well as the international one, and to promote the exchange of experiences among the institutions of the diverse states.
74 Electoral World Magazine // January 2018 EVENTS
Latin American course specialized over “The role of the Electoral Organism in the promotion and strengthening of the democratic culture”
From 11th to 14th of September of 2017, it was celebrated The objective of this course was to share knowledge, the “Specialized Latin American Course over the Role experiences and good practices that would result on of the Electoral Organisms in the Promotion and the new ideas for the fulfllment of the objectives; to identify Strengthening of the Democratic Culture”, which was and to analyze the challenges that face the efforts of developed in the City of Mexico and was organized citizen construction and the promotion of democratic by the National Electoral Institute (INE), through the values in the region; and to open new spaces for inter- Electoral International Center of Training and Research institutional sharing and collaboration.” (CICIE), together with the IIDH/CAPEL and the Institute of Formation and Studies in Democracy (IFED) From the Electoral Tribunal of Panama participated B. of the Supreme Tribunal of Elections of Costa Rica. Sc. Belsy Castillo, of the Center of Democratic Studies.
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 75 EVENTS XII Inter American Meeting of Electoral Authorities
The Department for the Cooperation and Electoral as: mechanisms of direct democracy, citizen education, Observation (DECO), together with the National Registrar electoral training, internal democracy of the political of the Civil Status and the Electoral Council of the Republic parties, use of social networks of electoral authorities and of Colombia, organized the XII Inter American Meeting of the freedom of expression in the social networks, Electoral Authorities, the days 26th and 27th of October in Cartagena of Indians, Colombia. In this important event, more than 20 countries that were represented by their electoral organisms participated. Once again, this meeting opened a space of dialogue so The B. Sc. Gilberto Estrada, National Director of Personal that the representatives of the electoral organisms of the Identifcation Card, participated from the Electoral Tribunal Americas could know and evaluate experiences such of Panama.
Mission of electoral observation for the General Elections of Honduras
On the past 26th of November the general elections of Honduras were carried out. Due to this, the representatives from different electoral organisms were convoked to be part of the mission of electoral observation. From the Electoral Tribunal of Panama, the B.Sc. Raquel Núñez, Sub Director of the General Secretariat and the B.Sc. Lourdes Obregon, coordinator of Electoral Delegates participated.
In these elections, the president of the Republic, three vice presidents, 128 deputies of the national parliament and 20 deputies of the Central American Parliament, besides 298 mayors, were chosen.
During the electoral journey the observers stood out the great citizen participation as well as the tranquility and the civism that were observed during the electoral process.
76 Electoral World Magazine // January 2018 INSTITUTIONAL Social RESPONSIBILITY
TO PREVENT THE BREAST AND PROSTATE CANCER IS GAINING LIFE
PREVENIR EL CÁNCER DE MAMA Y PRÓSTATA ES GANAR VIDA
With the purpose of making the collaborators aware on who have gone through such diffcult cancer diagnosis, the early prevention of the breast and prostate cancer, were presented. illness that affects thousands of men and women, the Electoral Tribunal, through the Direction of Human The ladies shared their struggle experiences to gain the Resources, carried out a discussion in the framework of battle of this illness. They added that their family support the Pink and Blue Ribbon campaign. and the faith have been fundamental columns to go ahead. Dr. Anibal Villa-Real, director of the National Oncological The magistrate Yara Ivette Campo gave the institutional Institute (ION), was in charge of explaining to the staffs speech, where she exhorted the collaborators to that the cancer prevention consists of the measures that periodically visit the physician in order to carry out the are taken to reduce the probability of suffering the illness, tests and in this way, to prevent the cancer. Besides, she to change the lifestyle and to change the eating habits. told the stories lived with family members that faced this illness. It was the right time for the authorities of the Electoral Tribunal to give a donation to the director of this hospital, During the event, the testimonies of Bella Santos, director from the collaborators of the Electoral Tribunal, product of the Regional Special Offce of Panama Center and of the sale of promotional articles and food, during the Marta Maddox, administrator of the Mausi Little House, institutional fair carried out recently. Telethon 20 - 30
For the family of the Electoral Tribunal, it is a pride to be bones, cornea, and cardiac tissue. In the year 2017, the present, every year, in the Telethon 20-30. To achieve our representation was in charge of two symbol children: annual donation goal, we carry out activities at the national Joseliz Alhia Morales Bernal and Daniel Isaac Pinto. level that go from the sale of articles, food, drinks, as well as the popular jeans Fridays, among many activities. Meeting the commitment with these causes, on Saturday, 16th of December, in the Telethon, a delegation Our history starts in the year 2015, when the collaborators of collaborators attended the event to deliver our established the objective to donate ten thousand dollars contribution as Institution. The presentation fnished (B/.10,000.00), amount that we have achieved thanks to all with the chorus of the slogan “WE ARE PART OF IT – our staffs that in one way or another, give their generous DO YOUR PART”. support to this noble cause. Our country achieved the proposed goal once again. This This year it could not be an exception. The 20-30 Active year they collected B/.4,012,020.30. Club announced two goal projects focused on epilepsy and donation of organs. The frst project has as its objective to We thank all our collaborators for their commitment improve the lifestyle of the epileptic patients through the and generosity with this noble cause. The satisfaction of creation, adaptation and equipment of a National Center of giving is the best gift that we can receive. Epilepsy. The second project looks to create an integral bank of tissues for the transplant of skin, amniotic membrane,
78 Electoral World Magazine // January 2018 ¿WHO IS WHO?
Nubia Mágdala Villacís
The National Electoral Council (CNE) of Ecuador appointed Nubia Villacis, MBA, as the new president of the organism, on the 30th of November of 2017. She is a professional with 21 years of experience, seven of them in the public sector and 14 years in the private feld. She has a Master´s degree in Communication and Development from the University of Guayaquil. She has a graduate certifcation in Electoral Assistance and International Observation – from the University of Valencia. Besides, she has a Superior certifcation in Judicial Journalism from the Pontifcal Catholic University of Quito. She also has a B. Sc. degree in Social Communications – University of Guayaquil; and a Teacher Superior Technical degree for Basic Education.
Ana Marcela Paredes
The National Electoral Council (CNE) of Ecuador appointed B. Sc. Ana Marcela Paredes, as the new vice president of the organism, on the 30th of November of 2017. She was frst alternate councilor of the National Electoral Council in the Contest of Merits and Opposition organized by the Council of Citizen Participation and Social Control. She is a researcher and a studious person of the themes of citizen participation, local development and citizenship. She has Master´s degree in International Affairs and in Public Administration, granted by the University of Syracuse, School (Maxwell) of Citizenship and Public Affairs, in the United States. From the National Electoral Council, she plans to build from diversity, being this the consequent step with a life thought to serve people, contributing to a more democratic and inclusive Ecuadorian citizenship.
Halimah Yacob
On the 13th of September, the Muslim Halimah Yacob, became the first president of Singapore, since she was the only candidate that met all the requirements for the planned chief of State position elections. Yacob was born in 1954 in Singapore. She is the daughter of a Muslim man who is originally from India and her mother is Malaysian. She became a politician with the Popular Action Party (PAP) which governed the country since 1959, and she entered the Parliament in 2001. She obtained her first position in 2011 as Sports, Youth and Community Development minister, and two years later, she occupied the presidency of the Parliament. http://www.abc.es/internacional/abci-musulmana-halimah-yacob
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 79 ¿WHO IS WHO?
Sooronbai Jeenbekov
The Central Electoral Commission of Kyrgyzstan announced on the 31st of October, that the former prime minister, Sooronbai Jeenbekow, had won the presidential election. These were carried out on the 15th of October. Eleven candidates participated in the competition, and 1,697,868 electors casted their vote. According to the commission, Jeembekow won the elections with 54.22 per center of the votes. In the second place was Omurbek Babanov, who obtained 33.49 per cent of the votes. Jeembekow, who is 58 years old, served as prime minister since April of 2016 until his nomination by the Social-Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan. http://spanish.xinhuanet.com,
Sebastián Piñera
The former conservative mandatary Sebastian Piñera obtained an advantage of 9 points facing Alejandro Guillier, with the 99% of the tables counted and he will govern Chile for the next four years. With a total of 99.62% of the tables counted, Piñera obtains the 54.57% of the votes, facing the 45.43% of the offcial candidate, the senator Alejandro Guillier. In this way, Piñera, who already governed the country between 2010 and 2014, becomes the president of Chile for the 2018-2022 period, and for the second time in history, he replaces Michelle Bachelet occupying the position of chief of State. This is the frst presidential election in which the Chileans who live overseas participate, where Guillier achieved 71.13%, facing the 28.87% of the votes obtained by Piñera. The approximate 40,000 Chilean voters from 62 countries represent only the 0.18% of the national votes. https://elcomercio.pe/mundo/actualidad/elecciones-chile-segunda-vuelta-2017
George Weah The only African who is the winner of a Golden Ball, the former football player George Weah, is the new president of Liberia, with the 98% of the second round votes counted for the elections celebrated on the 26th of December. According to the preliminary results, announced by the National Electoral Commission (NEC), Weah, from the Congress for the Democratic Change, obtained the 61.5% of the votes, facing the 38.7% of the current vice president Joseph Boakai, from the Popular Unity (PU). George Weah takes on a new challenge: to become the president of his country. He came back to Nigeria as soon as the war fnished. In 2005, in the frst postwar elections, he faced Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who defeated the popularity of the football player, who was seen as unexperienced, and she crowned herself as the frst woman president in Africa. The second intent to reach to the top politics came in 2011. This time he was postulated as vice president, but he did not achieve the position. In 2014 he won as the senator of his Montserrado county in Monrovia.
http://www.wradio.com.co/noticias/internacional/george-weah-gana-las-elecciones-en-liberia
80 Electoral World Magazine // January 2018 ELECTO TIPs
Which ones have been the Colombian presidential elections with more candidates?
1990 - There were six liberal pre-candidates. The liberal candidate, Cesar Gaviria was elected with 2.8 million votes.
1994 - These were the frst presidential elections since the proclamation of the 1991 Constitution, which brought new electoral processes, such as the second round for the presidential elections.
1998 - 13 presidential candidates participated in the frst round.
2002 - There were 11 formulas for the Presidency and Vice presidency.
2006 - Seven formulas participated in the consecutive presidential election. It was the frst time that a party different from the Conservative and the Liberal obtained the second place.
2010 - 9 formulas participated in the election. In the second round, Juan Manuel Santos obtained 9 million votes; in other words, 69% of the total, and he imposed a new voting record in Colombia.
2014 - In the most recent presidential elections, fve formulas participated, being the smallest one since the implementation of the 1991 Constitution. http://www.rcnradio.com/nacional/cuales-las-elecciones-presidenciales-colombia-mas-candidatos/
In 35 years of existence of the democratic system, Bolivia registered 42 electoral processes
These processes include presidential elections, sub-national elections (department and local ones) and referendums.
Likewise, it is detected that between 1985 and 2015, 10 local elections were registered. In the meantime, there were at least three department processes. In the year 2005, there were processes to elect prefects; and in 2010 and 2015, to elect the nominated department governors.
The referendums are the most registered electoral processes. In total, since the year 2004, there were 18 consultations to the citizenship, which included political issues regarding the hydrocarbons and the referendum over the approval of a new Constitution.
Among the consultations, there also was the constituent referendum of the year 2009, the referendum of the 21st of February of 2016, when the 51% ratifed the article 168 of the Constitution, which establishes the mandate time of the president, and it states the times that an authority can be re-elected (only once in a continuous way). In the gathering, it was also included the constituent election, towards the 2006 Constitutional Assembly; and the judicial elections of 2011 that had the objective of electing the top authorities of the Judicial Organ and the Constitutional Tribunal. http://www.paginasiete.bo/nacional/2017/10/6/anos-bolivia-registro-procesos-electorales-154789.html
Electoral World Magazine// January 2018 81 GLOSARy
PARITY
The parity constitutes one of the strategies oriented to combat the results of historical and structural discrimination that has kept the women outside of the public spaces of deliberation and decision making. It is a principle that responds to a congruent, inclusive and equal understanding of the democracy, where the descriptive and symbolic representation of the women is essential.
Different from the quotas, it is a permanent measure. The parity should be applied within the executive, legislative, judicial and autonomous organs. It should also be applied in the international and private organisms.
According to the article 18th of the Framework Norm to Consolidate the Parity Democracy, emitted by the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino), the parity “Is expressed in legal and regulatory dispositions of electoral regimes and systems that incorporate in the offcial lists the 50% of candidacies for each gender, either in the main as well as in the alternate positions (…)”.
It adds two ordering criteria (mandates of position) in the party lists: the vertical and the horizontal parity. These criteria are applied either to the closed lists as well as to the open lists, single-nominal positions and/or multi-nominal ones.
Besides, it establishes that the parity should be:
Vertical. In the multi-nominal lists, the location of the candidacies for women and men must be carried out in an alternate and sequential way (one to one) fully and in a descending way, either in the main positions as well as in the alternate positions. If it has to do with single-nominal party lists, the parity is complied with the addition of alternate candidacies with the opposite gender to the one that the main position occupies.
Horizontal. Equivalent participation of women and men in the heads of the party lists (frst places). When the same party and/or alliance is present in several electoral districts, simultaneously it should be agreed the heading lists of men and women equally.
In the region, the parity is recognized in Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama and Venezuela.
AutHora: María del Carmen Alanis Complete Defnition: www.iidh.ed.cr/capel/
82 Electoral World Magazine // January 2018