The race to occupy the second most important political seat in the nation is on and candidates from across the political spectrum are defining their platforms for a mayoral race which culminates in a first round of voting on October 25th.
So far, the official candidates for Mayor of Bogotá are Clara López of the Polo Democrático party, former interim mayor and Liberal candidate Rafael Pardo, Francisco Santos of the right-wing Centro Democrático, Enrique Peñalosa of the Green Party (Partido Verde) and the Conservative Martha Lucía Ramírez. Six more candidates are in the race – Hollman Morris, María Mercedes Maldonado, Carlos Vicente de Roux, Antonio Sanguino and Alex Vernot, yet according to a recent poll released by Datexco, have yet to drum up enough voter support.
Whoever is elected Mayor of Bogotá for the four year term beginning January 1st 2016, the issues ahead for this metropolis of 8 million are many: such as grid-lock mobility, rising insecurity and a solution to Gustavo Petro’s municipalization of garbage collection. Even the contentious issue of bringing bull fighting back to the Plaza de Toros Santamaría will be addressed by all candidates in the months leading up to election day.
In order to strengthen the participation of businesses and citizens ahead of our first round of local elections, the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce (CCB) has launched their latest version of “If I Were Mayor” and “If I were Governor” campaign.
The initiative this year reaches its seventh edition and aims to build upon proposals and solutions on strategic issues for both Bogotá and Cundinamarca, which will require the attention of both the next Mayor and Governor of the department. This is the first time the #YoAlcalde program includes proposals for the gubernatorial candidates.
“The private sector and citizens must help respond to the great challenges of a region that will soon reach 10 million and needs to continue improving the quality of life by promoting productive development and generating more and better opportunities for all its inhabitants,” stated CCB president, Monica de Greiff at the launch of the #YoAlcalde campaign.
On Tuesday April 7th, Bogotanos have been invited to interact through social media (Facebook and Twitter) with their ideas and proposals for the city and region. Ideas which can cover economic development, improved infrastructure and mobility, as well as the governance and financial solvency of the Colombian capital. By Tuesday progresses, the questions by citizens as well as the proposed solutions by the candidates will be published on the CCB’s website for #YoAlcalde:
http://www.siyofueralcalde.com.
