Medellin born Sergio Fajardo is one of Colombia’s most recognized and acclaimed independently minded politicians. His rising political career, which includes holding mayoral office in Medellin, a vice presidential candidacy for national government, and a current tenure as Governor of Antioquia, make Fajardo an optioned presidential hopeful in the short and medium term. His successful governance outcomes have motivated the Colombian Green Party’s attempt to position Fajardo as their presidential candidate for the 2014 presidential election.
Fajardo’s career began far away from politics. Before going into public affairs, Fajardo was an academic; he obtained a Ph.D in Mathematics from University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1984, and a BSc from Universidad de los Andes in 1977. After concluding his studies, Fajardo proved to be an able teacher, researcher and scientist. This led him to occupy posts such as The National Council of Basic Sciences and the National Comission of Masters and Doctorates.
His transition from academia to politics was not sudden or unexepected. Sporadically, Fajardo began to make a name for himself in public life, fist publishing occasional opinion articles, then participating in different social fora. In 1995, Fajardo was asked to be a member of the Comisión Facilitadora de Paz de Antioquia, alongside Nobel Peace Prize laureate Oscar Arias, as well as other recognized figures.
After gaining political visibility, Fajardo went on to create the, today extinct, Compromiso Ciudadano movement, alongside influential artists, thinkers, and businessmen including current Medellin mayor Alonso Salazar. Under the banner of independent and clean politics, Fajardo managed to secure an unexpected third place in the Medellin mayoral race of 2000. This largely unpredicted result, gave Fajardo enough confidence and political capital to become a serious contender in Colombian politics. True to his independent, anti-ideological style, Fajardo rejected the invitation to become a part of the Frente Social Amplio left-oriented movement.
In 2003 Fajardo, once again, attempted to become Mayor of Medellin, representing the Alianza Social Indigena movement. He secured an overwhelming victory with 210.000 votes, thus becoming Medellin mayor from 2004 until 2007. His time in office is well remembered for his successful performance.
While in office, Fajardo managed to transform the city of Medellin, as well as, public administration in Medellin. Responsible public spending, record numbers in social investment, a pronounced decrease in crime, and social inclusion policies made Fajardo the recipient of many national and international prizes of good governance, and successful public administration. Furthermore, Fajardo managed to renovate the reputation and performance of the public sector in the city of Medellin.
After his successful term as mayor, Fajardo decided in 2008 to try to run for the presidency of Colombia, with the aim of winning the 2010 election. In a time of intense political polarization and continuous government scandal, Fajardo opted to position his movement as entirely independent. Claiming to be neither left, nor right, not uribista, and not anti-uribista, Fajardo joined the short-lived “quintuplets” movement (alongside Antanas Mockus, Enrique Peñalosa, Marta Lucía Ramírez, and Luis Eduardo Garzón). He left after his demand to be their presidential candidate was denied.
Fajardo carried on in his presidential attempt however, visiting the different regions of Colombia and campaigning in the streets with a face-to-face approach towards the people. He also led a movement of candidates for the senate, which failed to secure any congressional seat. After this defeat, Fajardo accepted an invitation from the Green Party to be fellow scientist Antanas Mockus’ running mate for the 2010 presidential election.
Alas, Fajardo once again suffered defeat, as Mockus came second in the election of 2010. This did not stop Fajardo from seeking political office, thus, as a member of the Green Party, he became Governor of Antioquia in 2011, promising to replicate the successful policies he implemented in Medellin. As the Governor of Antioquia, amongst other things, Fajardo has published a public administration report titled “The White Book”. This report has helped to increase transparency and show the high levels of corruption and negligent management of the previous administrations.
