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Dr Strassman · 29-05-2010 , 18:00:04

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...antanas-mockus

In praise of… Antanas Mockus
This Sunday Colombians may do something extraordinary: elect the world's first Green party head of state

This coming Sunday Colombians may do something extraordinary: elect the world's first Green party head of state. Antanas Mockus, who is currently leading in polls in the presidential race, defies every stereotype about Colombia and most of those about politicians too. He has always specialised in the unexpected and the countercultural: a bearded academic, mathematician and philosopher who once quelled student unrest by mooning at protesters. Born to Lithuanian parents, Mockus looks like a potential mayor of Vilnius, but instead proved himself a transformative mayor of Bogotá, a city that has become a model of civic improvement. In the 1990s it was a dangerous and unlivable city, but a series of imaginative mayors brought it back from the brink. Mockus treated the job as a great experiment in civic responsibility. Mime artists mocked traffic violators, and road deaths halved. One campaign cut water use by 40%, while another led 63,000 people to pay a voluntary 10% tax to improve services. A Night for Women encouraged men to stay at home while 700,000 females enjoyed the city. His first run for the presidency ended in failure; his second looked set to do the same until a remarkable surge in recent months. He is likely to face the defence minister, Juan Manuel Santos, in a runoff ballot to replace the retiring president, Álvaro Uribe, who took a tough populist line against terrorism. Mockus could not be more different to him. Victory would be a tribute to his country's recovery from crisis.
• This article was amended on 28 May 2010. The original referred to Mockus as resembling a potential mayor of Riga. This has been corrected.