Ana Lumbreras and Pilar Mazo
Logroño (EFE).- The socialist María Marrodán and the popular María Martín have a long political career, they coordinate the electoral campaigns of their parties on May 28 and defend a “pedagogy of feminism” and the method of “fine rain”, respectively, when analyzing the presence of women in the political sphere, as they have explained to EFE.
On the eve of commemorating International Women’s Day, both have pointed out how they face this new responsibility as electoral campaign coordinators and how they have become important supporters for the candidates for the regional government Concha Andreu (PSOE) and Gonzalo Capellán (PP); as well as the heads of the list of the La Rioja municipalities of their parties.
“We women arrive at the same places, but perhaps more tired, with more difficulty, and that is the essential inequality against which we have to continue fighting,” said Marrodán (Zaragoza, 1980), who has been a delegate of the Government in La Rioja, national deputy and councilor of Logroño.
For María Martín (Toledo, 1962), her reinstatement to a front-line position in the party after resigning from the General Secretariat three years ago, is “a moral commitment” and allows her to share with Capellán her “dream” with La Rioja that they have wanted since they coincided in the 2003 legislature, when both were general directors of the regional government, of which, later and at different times, they became directors, of Education for him and of Health for her.
claim feminism
On a personal level, for Marrodán it is “a pride and a responsibility to be part of a team and of the PSOE of La Rioja with female leaders”, since Andreu is the general secretary of the party and she is the organization secretary.
“This is part of an important example of pedagogy and how we can teach that women can be leading essential and important issues,” she highlighted.
She has insisted that “feminism must continue to be claimed” and “we must not remove it from our way of doing politics and being in the world because, when it grows, there are always forces or movements that seem to try to push us back”.
For her, the presence of women within political formations has “the same difficulties as in any other area of society.”
“We have the formal equality that we can reach the same places as men, but there is an underlying inequality that makes it difficult for us to reach with more effort,” he stressed.
The “fine rain”
For her part, Martín stressed that “being a woman in politics means having the opportunity to improve every day in the equality of women and men with the ‘fine rain’ method, which is how the PP works, as opposed to the ‘election storm’”.
“It is working together, men and women, to reach the goal, without fights between the sexes, without leaving anyone out, in a pragmatic way and with our feet on the ground”, added the also current regional deputy, in favor of promoting “the promotion of women in positions of responsibility based on merit and ability”.
He has defended “pragmatism against ideological dogmatism, facts demonstrated with data against stories”; to which he added that “there are people and parties that champion equality”, while “equality is exercised in the PP”.
“Directing the electoral campaign is an honor and a responsibility for which I thank Gonzalo Capellán and at no time have I considered that this election was for being a woman,” stated Martín, for whom the popular candidate, “due to age and intellectual capacity, exercises equality spontaneously, innately, reflexively, coherently and by conviction, not by posturing”.
Kick La Rioja and face to face
Kicking La Rioja, face to face with the people of La Rioja and preparing the messages for their transfer to society through different channels, with an important role played by social networks, are some of the pillars of the electoral campaigns of the regional PSOE and PP , who have their respective programs “very advanced” and many of their candidacies “already closed.”
Marrodán has highlighted the value of having a candidate like Concha Andreu, who “loves face to face”, visiting all the towns of La Rioja, “door to door, municipality to municipality”; and her ability to “give an explanation” to any citizen complaint to her management as president of the La Rioja Government, which “has an incalculable value.”
Chaplain, since his appointment as a candidate last October, has traveled through the 174 municipalities of La Rioja, which are “the strength of this community”, in his objective of “going out, listening, taking note of the needs and proposals of the neighbors”, according to Martín, because “this is not about photos, it is about work, real listening and knowing what each La Riojan really needs”.
The PSOE “comes more than enough” to this electoral examination, “with the homework done to explain in each municipality what really interests the citizenry and our project because now there is no room for other things,” said its campaign coordinator.
He explained that the fact that “(the socialists) did not have to waste time looking at ourselves has allowed us to be able to look outside beforehand and be able to teach ourselves.”
The PP arrives at this electoral appointment with “all the enthusiasm and desire to work for La Rioja and the people of La Rioja from the Government”, convinced, according to Martín, that it has “many possibilities” to access the regional Executive, which it lost in 2019 after 24 years.
This will allow the popular “to change the current situation of La Rioja, turn it around and take this autonomous community to what it always was”, to which contributes “the illusion that we see wherever we go and in the people with whom we we meet”, he concluded.
