Futuro Jalisco is an emerging party aiming to change the status quo of Mexican politics. Less bureaucracy, increased governmental and institutional transparency, more support for citizen-led initiatives and open dialogue on all matters are some of its main goals.
“We realized that we needed to take politics into our hands,” says Susana Ochoa, a co-founder of Futuro who ran as an independent candidate for the Jalisco State Congress in last year’s elections.
The creation of Futuro Jalisco last January culminates an evolving process over the past five years through the work of Wikipolítica, a grassroots movement that promoted greater citizen participation in government, and the nomination of independent candidates in local elections. The movement received a major boost with the election of the first independent state legislator, 28-year-old Pedro Kumamoto, who served in the Jalisco Congress from 2015 to 2017. He ran for the Senate last year but was narrowly defeated. Despite the good showing of dozens of independent candidates promoted by Wikipolítica, none were able to take up seats via the proportional representation system due to “coalitions” between the registered parties.
“That’s why we have decided to become a political party, so we can compete under the same circumstances,” says Ochoa, who noted that the connection with Wikipolítica has since terminated. “We understood we needed a better tool to participate in politics.”
According to Kumamoto, another co-founder of the party, Futuro Jalisco will differ from the mainstream corrupt and nontransparent parties by being “radically democratic and honest.”
As a demonstration of this, Futuro Jalisco will eschew all public funding when it finally receives its official registration.
Writing on sopitas.com in February, Ochoa noted, “We are going to work so that institutions are of service to those who have been left behind: women, youth, the elderly, minorities … we will make open dialogue a requirement and not an optional detail … and make public service synonymous with excellence.”
Like Wikipolítica, young people are especially drawn to the new party. “Futuro offers a platform for those of us who support community organization and who are not attracted to traditional politics,” says member Carlos Hernandez. “This can enhance the development of local agendas.”
Futuro is required to obtain 16,000 signatures prior to a December 31 deadline as part of the registration process. It expects to participate in local and state elections in 2021.