With this citizen initiative you can talk to a Minister for 10 minutes, what would you tell them?

The citizens' initiative "Hello, please Colombia?" (¡Aló!, ¿por favor Colombia?) seeks to connect political leaders with citizens to hear different perspectives in a 10-minute phone call.

Leer en español: ¿Qué le diría a un ministro colombiano en una llamada de 10 minutos?

In the 2018 elections, which won the Democratic Center candidate Iván Duque with more than 10 million votes, there were 28 calls with 7 candidates for president and vice president – none of these seven includes Iván Duque or Gustavo Petro-, to talk about education, depoliticization of justice, intrafamily violence, among other topics of interest.

The turn is now for the ministers

"Hello, please Colombia?", in alliance with the newspaper El Espectador, seek that the 16 ministers of the cabinet of Iván Duque speak directly with the citizens to respond to realities of the community . For this, they have launched the #10MinutesChallenge (# RetoDeLos10Minutos).

Gloria Borrero of the Ministry of Justice, María Victoria Angulo of the Ministry of Education, and Jonathan Malagón of the Ministry of Housing have already accepted the challenge. The same was done by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, led by José Restrepo, who accepted the challenge and said in his Twitter account that he is "attentive to the doubts and ideas of Colombians about the policies we will implement." There is still a long list of ministers who are expected to participate in the challenge.

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What should I do if I want to participate?

To speak with any of the ministers, you must register on the website of ¡Aló !, please Colombia?, and share the initiative so that more leaders can join the challenge. As a citizen enrolled in the initiative, they can choose the ministers with whom they would like to speak for 10 minutes over the phone and if they are selected, the process of preparing questions in conjunction with the community begins.

It is an opportunity for those who support the political debate, the discussion of local realities and, above all, the improvement of the relationship between people and their leaders. What would you say to a minister on a 10-minute call?

The initiative with the presidential candidates

Ángela María Robledo , of the Petro Presidente Coalition, participated in eight calls in which issues such as school feeding, the conditions of motherhood, the strengthening of the economy in Nariño and the Uribista family were discussed, explains El Espectador.

Sergio Fajardo, Claudia Lopez, Humberto de la Calle, Clara Lopez, and Marta Lucia Ramirez were other candidates who participated in the 10-minute challenge, leaving out the Political Movement We All Are Colombia, Germán Vargas Lleras, Gustavo Petro, and the current President of Colombia, Iván Duque, according to the newspaper.

The project is promoted – according to the website aloporfavorcolombia.com – by an independent citizen initiative. It had a great reception at the end of the second presidential round because, as analyzed, sought to do politics in a different way trying to resolve the polarization of the country, the aggression between politicians on Twitter, and the electoral apathy that disconnected the citizen of the process.

Through the YouTube account of the project, citizens can hear the results of these conversations among Colombian politicians running for the Presidency during the 2018 elections season. Citizens sought answers and a personal debate regardless of their origin.

LatinAmerican Post | Diana Ramos
Translated from “¿Qué le diría a un ministro colombiano en una llamada de 10 minutos?”