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A Congress without Roma representation? [editar]

The Fundación Secretariado Gitano shows its concern about the lack of Roma representation in the next legislature in Spain

16/06/2023
FSG

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Faced with the deeply rooted social image of the homogeneity of the Roma people, the legislature that has just concluded in Spain reflected very well the diversity of Roma men and women. The Spanish Congress has had three Roma deputies in it, each of them representing a different political party: Sara Giménez (Cs), Beatriz Carrillo (PSOE) and Ismael Cortés (ECP-UP).

There have been precedents in previous legislatures (Juan de Dios Ramírez, Silvia Heredia, Juan José Cortés…), but never before like this one. Three Roma deputies who, from different ideological positions, have joined forces and have known how to look beyond partisan differences to achieve significant progress for the Roma community. The incorporation of antigypsyism as a crime in the Spanish Penal Code, within the framework of the Comprehensive Law on Equal Treatment and Non-Discrimination, has been possible thanks to the joint effort of the three Roma deputies. The constitution of the Subcommittee for a State Pact against Antigypsyism and for the Inclusion of the Roma People and its work, with the appearances of numerous representatives of the Roma associative movement, has also been an important milestone in this legislature.

Their impact is present in many of the legislative developments that this legislature has had, making sure that social advances also reach the Roma community and that the regulatory framework contemplates situations that affect them specifically (Minimum Income, school failure and segregation, slum settlements and substandard housing…)

But in addition to the legislative initiatives that they have promoted, their presence in Congress has made the Roma people visible, offering another image, also real, of the Roma population, far from poverty, marginalization and exclusion to which we are so used to; three deputies capable of defending and working for the general interest of the country, and also doing so from the perspective of the Roma people. Roma men and women have felt represented in the Spanish Congress.

From the Fundación Secretariado Gitano, we thought that the political parties in Spain had understood the value of incorporating in their ranks, and in their lists, the diversity of our society, including the largest ethnic minority in our country and in Europe, the Roma. However, we see with concern how the lists to Congress are being closed in view of the national elections on July 23 and how, for different reasons, those who were in the previous legislature are left out and no new Roma figures are incorporated.

There is no excuse for political parties anymore. Fortunately, today there are many professional profiles of trained Roma, committed to politics and with enthusiasm for assuming public responsibilities. All that is needed is the willingness of the political parties to set up lists that allow for a plural, diverse Congress that truly represents our society, but also valuing the incorporation of people from groups or minorities traditionally excluded from decision-making spaces, like Roma. Deputies who work for the general interest and, in addition, represent and defend the rights of the Roma people. It is about incorporating into practice the intercultural perspective that a good part of the political parties defends only from the theory of their electoral programmes.

We have seen how in the recent municipal and regional elections in Spain, many Roma, especially young men, entered the lists of various parties with aspirations to join in on political life, there is interest in political participation, as part of a wider range of social participation and citizenship of the Roma youth.

The Roma men and women are taking steps forward, are the political parties the ones that are going to take a step back?

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