Hocus Mockus

Antanas Mockus or the era of the erratic and philosophical politics

Update : Mockus won the Internet campaign. Analysis of the Internet strategy of each candidate of the Colombian presidential election.

He looks like an old high school teacher. But actually he is much more funny. Antanas Mockus is candidate for the next Colombian presidential election which will take place on the 30^th of May. He is not unknown as he was already candidate in 2006 for the Indigenous Social Alliance Movement (he is himself the son of… Lithuanian migrants !), candidate for the vice-presidency in 1998 with the conservative Noemi Sanin and he is the former mayor of Bogota (1995-1996 and 2001-2003). Now he runs for the Green Party. One of his first stunts occurred when he was the rector of the university of Bogota. He was delivering a speech but his students did not listen to him. He did not find anything but… pulled down his pants and showed his buttocks! It worked pretty well and the students suddenly became silent!

For a campaign in his city he also dressed as “Supercitizen”, a Superman style superhero. He left his post as mayor of Bogota in 1996 in order to be a candidate in the 1998 presidential election after the promise he would never make such a thing. He also dressed as a carrot to promote his “carrot hour”,  an experience to change Bogota’s life and reduce violence.

But Antanas Mockus is not just a clown. As a mayor of Bogota, he performed good results. What could be considered pranks is actually a seductive system of thought. Mockus is doctor of philosophy and he showed that a philosopher can also be an efficient manager. His analysis of the situation of his country has been very sharp. He noted that there was less violence in the streets when women were out, for example. So he decided to establish a women’s day, when it is forbidden for men to go out into the street. The “carrot hour” (restrictions on hours of nightclubs, on the sale of alcohol…) made that Bogota is now one of the safest cities in South America. The homicide rate fell 70%. He managed to brink drinkable water and sewerage to the majority of Bogota houses. Even if his economical and social results were not so satisfying as the unemployment remained strong, for example.

The fact is that Antanas Mockus has now a real chance to be the president of Colombia. Alvaro Uribe cannot be candidate but his candidate Juan Manuel Santos (for the Partido de la U) is leading the polls. According to a recent poll, a 37% of the Colombians could vote for him. And the other one on the second round could be… Antanas Mockus. He is credited with 22% of voting intentions. Just before his former binomial Noemi Sanin (20%). If Mockus was president one day, sure that the diplomatic meetings could take a little bit more fun.