Three women in power

The new legislative term of the National Assembly began today in Ecuador, with 137 assembly members  taking office. Now that in itself isn’t unusual, right? It happens in country after country all over the world.

What is notable about the Ecuadorian situation is that of those 137 legislators, 100 are allied with the president’s political party (Alianza PAIS). This means the government will have 73% of the representation in the plenary, a fact that is happening for the first time in the history of Ecuador and that will have a tremendous influence when it comes to approving laws or reforms, whether they are driven by the plenary or by the President. In other words, this means the governing party will practically rule without opposition.

I won’t bore you here with too much political trivia about this tiny country I live in. What I do find interesting right now about what is happening today in my country has to do with the role and participation of women. At this moment, 40% of the Cabinet is made up by women. And 46% of the National Assembly’s members are women. That in itself shows progress. What is even more exciting is that for the first time in the history of this country, three women are at the head of the Assembly: Gabriela Rivadeneira, as president, and Rossana Alvarado and Marcela Aguinaga as first and second vice presidents. Not only that… they are young! 29, 36, and 40 years old respectively. Not only is the new president of the Assembly a woman, but she is also the youngest person to ever occupy this seat in Ecuador!

Now isn’t that something? 🙂