The Independent Movement of Absolute Renovation (, "MIRA") is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, founded in 2000 by 51,095 Colombians led by lawyer and former

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

Carlos Alberto Baena and

Alexandra Moreno Piraquive Alexandra Moreno Piraquive (born 23 August 1969) is a Colombian lawyer and politician, who served as Senator of Colombia from 2002 to 2014. Moreno is a co-founder of the Independent Movement of Absolute Renovation (MIRA), a conservative soci ...

. The party also has functions as a non-profit organization. It has representation in the Chamber of Representatives and in the Senate of the

Congress of Colombia The Congress of the Republic of Colombia () is the name given to Colombia's bicameral national legislature. The Congress of Colombia consists of the 108-seat Senate, and the 188-seat Chamber of Representatives, Members of both houses are e ...

, and has also participated in the public corporations of Colombia at a regional level, being stated as the eighth-most influential political force in the country. The party is commonly known in Colombia as "Movimiento MIRA" or just "MIRA". Members and affiliates are known as "Miraists", and their ideology is called ''Miraism''. On a global level, MIRA has been registered with the

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of the

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since September 27, 2011. Miraism has presence in many American countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, USA, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela, as well as in some

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an countries: the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, it is present in Japan. At the

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

of 2002 the party won as one of the many small parties parliamentary representation. The MIRA Movement took part in the legislative elections of 2006, in which it won 1 out of 165 deputies and 2 out of 100 senators. In 2018, MIRA took part in the legislative elections, in which it won 1 out of 166 deputies and 3 out of 102 senators. The current party

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

is Manuel Antonio Virgüez.

History

Foundation

The MIRA party was created on 2 March 2000 by Carlos Alberto Baena and Alexandra Moreno Piraquive, being elected as party Chairman and Vice chairwoman, respectively. On 20 June of the same year, they requested legal recognition of the party by the National Electoral Council of Colombia, which they obtained on 26 July under the name "Independent Movement of Absolute Renovation".

First elections

The first elections in which the MIRA party participated were the regional elections of 28 October 2000. In Bogota D.C., Carlos Alberto Baena was elected

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

thanks to 20,701 votes. In the

Quindío department Quindío () is a departments of Colombia, department of Colombia. It is located in the western central of the country, specifically in the Andean natural region, Andean region. Its capital is Armenia, Colombia, Armenia. It is famous for its coffe ...

, the economist Bernardo Valencia Cardona was elected deputy. In the Risaralda department, Martha Cecilia Alzate was elected deputy. Besides, the party obtained councillors in several municipalities and seats in several Local Administrative Units. In total, the party obtained 53

curule seat A curule seat is a design of a (usually) foldable and transportable chair noted for its uses in Ancient Rome and Europe through to the 20th century. Its status in early Rome as a symbol of political or military power carried over to other civiliza ...

s, becoming the 18th political force in the Colombian politic spectrum. Two years later, in the parliamentary elections of 2002, Alexandra Moreno Piraquive gets 81,061 votes, the highest number of votes reached by a woman running for senator in that period, and becomes senator of the Republic of Colombia.

Chairmanship of Alexandra Moreno

On 26 October 2003, the MIRA party participated in the parliamentary elections and kept Baena's position as councillor thanks to 24,277 votes and the position of Bernardo Valencia as deputy of the Assembly of Quindío thanks to 10,743 votes. The party also obtained 84 curule seats, included 10 councillor curule seats. In this period, Alexandra Moreno assumed the chairmanship of the party. On 12 March 2006, the MIRA party obtained 237,512 votes in the parliamentary elections, which was over the 2% minimum threshold necessary to keep legal recognition in the country. As a result, Alexandra Moreno kept her seat as senator and Manuel Antonio Virgüez obtains a seat as senator. At the same time, Gloria Stella Díaz is elected as representative for Bogota thanks to 52,713 votes. After this results, the MIRA party became the ninth political force in Colombia. Diputada - Martha Cecilia Alzate

In the regional elections of 2007, the MIRA party obtained for the first time a mayorship. Carlos Enrique López was elected as mayor of the Calarcá municipality in the Quindío department. Martha Liliana Agudelo, Martha Cecilia Alzate and Guillermina Bravo Montaño were elected as deputies of the Quindío, Risaralda and Valle del Cauca departments, respectively. Besides, the MIRA party obtained 35 councillors and 265 other curule seats.

Second Chairmanship of Carlos Alberto Baena

Carlos Alberto Baena is re-elected as party Chairman and Manuel Antonio Virgüez is elected as Vice chairman in 2008. In 2009 the party participated in the popular consultation done on 27 September to select its candidates to the Congress of Colombia. In that opportunity, the party surpassed the expected votation of 80,000 votes and obtained over 205,000, 19,397 of which were given by youngsters between 14 and 18 years old. This popular consultation was the first which allowed the participation of under-age people. In the 2010 parliamentary elections, the MIRA party obtained 324,109 votes. As a result, the party got four curule seats in the Congress of Colombia and Carlos Alberto Baena was elected to be senator. In the presidential elections of the same year, the MIRA party did not present a candidate to run for the presidency of Colombia nor supported any of the other parties´candidates. In the 2010 parliamentary elections, the MIRA party applied the zip system to their lists of candidates for the first time, which allowed it to have the same percentage of female and male candidates. In March 2011, Marisol Moreno was elected as Vice chairwoman and Ana Belsú Rodríguez was elected as secretary general. In the regional elections of October 2011, the MIRA party obtained the

governorate A governorate or governate is an administrative division headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either states or provinces, the term ''governorate'' is typically used to calque divisions ...

of the

Caquetá department Caquetá Department () is a department of Colombia. Located in the Amazonas region, Caquetá borders with the departments of Cauca and Huila to the west, the department of Meta to the north, the department of Guaviare to the northeast, th ...

, the mayorship of the

El Paujil El Paujil is a town and municipality in Caquetá Department, Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Co ...

municipality, seven deputies, 47 councillors and over 300 other curule seats. Later on, in an atypical election done on 29 January 2012. the party obtained 10 additional curule seats. In the 2012 popular consultation, the MIRA party obtained the highest votation among the participating political parties and groups thanks to 284,869 votes. For the 2014 parliamentary elections, the party has defined a closed list of candidates to the Senate and has decided not to run for the Andean Parliament elections neither to participate in the popular consultation. The party also decided not to present a candidate for the 2014 presidential elections nor to support any other presidential candidate.

Organizational structure

The administrative and directive bodies of the MIRA party are: The members of the National Direction are: *The Chairman *The Vice chairman *The secretary-general *The congressmen of the party

Political positions

Miraism

Since its foundation, the MIRA party has declared that its only political position is the Miraism, which is defined as: *A change in the attitude of the

individual An individual is one that exists as a distinct entity. Individuality (or self-hood) is the state or quality of living as an individual; particularly (in the case of humans) as a person unique from other people and possessing one's own needs or g ...

towards looking for the general welfare of people. *A way of doing politics without using any violent means. *An ideology that transcends the classical distinction between left-wing and right-wing.

Political convictions

The MIRA party has been characterized by never having forged political alliances or coalitions with any political party, and by trying to have lists of candidates with the same proportion of female and male candidates. As a result, it was the only political party who presented the same number of female candidates as that of male candidates in the 2010 elections. Moreover, the MIRA party has never been accused of having any relation with the

paramilitary groups A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...

or the guerrilla movements.

Social issues

The MIRA party has been opposed to the approval of the

euthanasia Euthanasia (from : + ) is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different Legality of euthanasia, euthanasia laws. The British House of Lords Select committee (United Kingdom), se ...

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

and

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

Characteristics of the party

Social aid

The MIRA party has been known in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

mainly for offering help to poor people. The party candidate to the Chamber of Representatives for the 2014 parliamentary elections Jorge Muñoz received the

Presidential Citizens Medal The Presidential Citizens Medal is an award bestowed by the president of the United States. It is the second-highest civilian award in the United States and is second only to the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Established by executive order on N ...

for his social work in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Legislative activity

The MIRA party is known for its assiduous work at the Congress of Colombia. As a result, the party proposes about half of the total number of bills although it has few curule seats.

Media

The party has a biweekly generalist newspaper called ''MIRA The Newspaper of the people'' (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

: ''MIRA El periódico de la gente''), and an Internet radio station called "MiraMás Online". The party's website is considered the best among all the political parties´ websites of Colombia, which made it receive the Colombia Online Prize in the category "Best political website" in 2010.

Members in active public service

The MIRA party has the following members holding curule seats in Colombia: 2015 Local authorities elections MIRA Party

Senate

Source: * Ana Paola Agudelo García * Carlos Eduardo Guevara Villabón * Manuel Virgüez Piraquive

Chamber of Representatives

*Irma Luz Herrera (Bogotá)

Departmental Assemblies

City Councils

47 councillors.

Local Administrative Units

131

aedile Aedile ( , , from , "temple edifice") was an elected office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings () and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to enforce public orde ...