Normally people tend to gain power. Whether it is any office worker aspiring to become a boss or ideally a CEO, to make more and more complex decisions. The civil servant seeks to be Head of Division, Secretary of State or, better still, to be appointed Undersecretary or Minister. The same happens in the Armed Forces, the Judiciary, the Councillors who aim to become Mayors and the Deputies who dream of the Senate. And so it is with so many instances in which the concentration of power is the raison d’être of different hierarchies.
That is why today’s gesture by Irina Karamanos is so striking.
Being in a romantic relationship with the man who was elected President of the Republic a year ago, she found herself in the position of accepting or not accepting the role traditionally imposed on the partners of presidents, taking on the position of “First Lady”.
This is a function that is certainly not democratically elected, requires full time, is not remunerated, arises from a patriarchal conception of the President’s spouse and in Chile she has been adding – from one government to the next – more and more foundations to her post, chairing the boards of these organisations dedicated to the most diverse activities.
“The president’s partner is chosen to be a partner,” Karamanos said some time ago, “not to be president of foundations”. Because whoever holds this position does not necessarily have the professional skills to do so, and they are also very diverse.
In March, Irina decided to take on the role, but changed the name from “First Lady” to “Sociocultural Coordinator of the Presidency”, publicly claiming that she was taking it on in order to dismantle it from within.
She announced that the foundations would soon be transferred to the corresponding ministries so that in the future the ministers would be the ones to appoint the foundations’ presidents, according to criteria of professional suitability for the role, which represents an institutional innovation that seeks probity and modernisation, ensuring their continuity over time and strengthening them through greater coordination with the corresponding portfolios.
In March, there were six dependent foundations: Integra (Red de Salas Cunas y Jardines Infantiles), PRODEMU (Promoción y Desarrollo de la Mujer), MIM (Museo Interactivo Mirador, science museum), Artesanías (Artesanías de Chile), FOJI (Fundación de Orquestas Juveniles e Infantiles), Chilenter (Tecnología para todos). In the course of the first 9 months of government, the Sociocultural Director of the Presidency has been delegating and transferring these organisations to the Ministries of Education, Women and Gender Equality, and Cultures, Arts and Heritage, who will appoint the presidents of the boards that have become vacant.
Thanks to the statutory change, it will be possible for the election to be carried out under professional criteria, providing programmatic stability to each organisation. This process of institutional innovation is a great achievement, valuing the public role of each Foundation and recognising the great contribution they make with their work.
There are no other changes associated, for example, with the employment status of the workers of these foundations. The modification of the statutes has been socialised with the workers of each foundation, who have welcomed the proposal. The process has been gradual and dialogued, as is the hallmark of the Sociocultural Coordination’s relationship with the foundations’ unions.
At the end of this process, each of the institutions is strengthened, while Irina Karamanos is left with her hands free, having herself closed down the activities established for whoever becomes First Lady in the future, leaving her without any power whatsoever.
Not only does she herself go free, but the office is also emptied of power, leaving the partners of those who govern to simply be who they are.
By renouncing these institutions, Karamanos exercises her right to lead her own life rather than – as women have traditionally done – seconding the role of her partner. But she also does so by emptying the office, so that all future Chilean presidential spouses do not have to assume a traditional, sexist and undemocratic role of responsibility.
The office in the Palacio de La Moneda is thus closed, and the various advisors assigned to the First Lady are no longer in their posts, because this function is eliminated in order to leave “a lighter state”, in the words of Irina Karamanos.
Her gesture is historic, it has great significance from a feminist look, it defends the right to receive economic remuneration for work and decentralises power, giving greater efficiency to organisations.
This hollowing out of power from within seems to us to be one of the most significant gestures that the new Chilean government has carried out in its first nine months. “It is a detachment from the logic of power, which is important for those of us who are in politics”, commented President Gabriel Boric.
