Yesenia Yarhui Explained

Yesenia Yarhui
Office:	Member of the Chamber of Deputies from Chuquisaca
Term Start:	18 January 2015
Term End:	3 November 2020
Predecessor:	Virginia Ramírez
Successor:	Marcelo Pedrazas
Constituency:	Party list
Birth Name:	Yesenia Yarhui Albino
Birth Date:	16 August 1995
Birth Place:	Sucre, Bolivia
Relatives:	Tomasa Yarhui (aunt)
Alma Mater:	University of San Francisco Xavier (LL.B.)
Signature:	(Signature) Yesenia Yarhui.svg

Yesenia Yarhui Albino (born 16 August 1995) is a Bolivian lawyer, politician, and former student leader who served as a party-list member of the Chamber of Deputies from Chuquisaca from 2015 to 2020. An activist forged in the student movement, Yarhui entered politics in 2014 as a candidate on the Christian Democratic Party ballot. Elected in that year's general elections, Yarhui was just 19 years old upon her entry into the Chamber of Deputies, making her the youngest parliamentarian in Bolivian history.

Early life

Yesenia Yarhui was born on 16 August 1995 in Sucre. Yarhui's political trajectory began as a member of Chuquisaca's student movement; she served as secretary of conflicts in the Chuquisaca Students' Federation and was a youth representative before the Unified Syndical Confederation of Rural Workers of Bolivia. Yarhui attended the University of San Francisco Xavier, during which time she served as a member of its Faculty of Law's Scientific and Research Society, later graduating with a bachelor of laws and political and social sciences.

Chamber of Deputies

Election

In 2014, Yarhui was invited by the Christian Democratic Party (PDC) to be a candidate for a seat in the Chamber of Deputies in that year's general elections. Yarhui's accession to the party's electoral list had been suggested by her aunt, Tomasa Yarhui, a Quechua peasant leader running as the PDC's vice-presidential candidate. Though the family connection was questioned by critics, Tomasa Yarhui assured that Yesenia's selection was an opportunity for young leaders to participate in politics.^[1]

Tenure

Elected at the tail end of 2014, Yarhui assumed office on 18 January 2015.^[2] Aged 19 years, 5 months, and 2 days old at the time of her assumption, Yarhui became the youngest parliamentarian in Bolivian history, as well as the youngest legislator in Latin America. Her ability to assume the position was made possible by the passage of the 2009 Constitution, which reduced age requirements to hold office in the Legislative Assembly.^[3] Yarhui's status as the country's youngest legislator was a central pillar of her tenure in the Chamber of Deputies, one she used to promote the participation of youth and women in politics. In an interview with the nonprofit Women's Coordination Committee, Yarhui outlined the need to do away with the "cultural stigmatization of being young and female" so as to ensure that those groups "can be taken into account as true protagonists in decision-making". Regarding her experience as a legislator, Yarhui recalled facing mistrust from her colleagues, including from within her own caucus, for "supposedly not having the capacity [to legislate]". However, she assured that that difficulty lessened with time, and in 2019, she even attained significant support from some of her colleagues to contest the leadership of the PDC caucus, nearly winning the election.^[4]

Commission assignments

• Planning, Economic Policy, and Finance Commission
  • Mining and Metallurgy Committee (–)^{[5] [6] [7]}
• Planning, Economic Policy, and Finance Commission
  • Budget, Tax Policy, and Comptroller's Office Committee (–)^[8]
• Plural Justice, Prosecutor's Office, and Legal Defense of the State Commission
  • Ordinary Jurisdiction and Magistracy Council Committee (–)^[9]

Later political career

Nearing the end of her service in the Chamber of Deputies, Yarhui expressed an interest in continuing her burgeoning career in politics. Just over a year after leaving office, Yarhui was sworn into the second cabinet of Damián Condori, the governor of Chuquisaca. She was appointed to serve as departmental secretary of culture, tourism, productive development, and employment, a broad-ranging position brought about by the merger of the Secretariat of Productive Development with the Directorate of Culture as a measure of economic austerity.^{[10] [11]} She held the post for just one year before being replaced during Condori's annual cabinet reshuffle.^[12] She was reassigned as director of the cabinet.^[13]

Electoral history

Year! style="background-color:#EAECF0;" rowspan=2

Office	Party	Votes	Result	.
Total	%	.
2014	Deputy		Christian Democratic	44,671	17.08%	2nd		^[14]
Source: Plurinational Electoral Organ Electoral Atlas

References

Bibliography

• Book: Coordinadora de la Mujer . Mujeres en el Parlamento: El Agridulce Sabor de la Primera Experiencia, Desafíos de la Participación Política de las Mujeres desde las Vivencias de 7 Legisladoras . 2020 . La Paz . 17–18 . es .
• Marquez Sánchez . Juan José . Evolución de la Presencia de la Juventud en el Parlamento Nacional, Periodos de 2006–2014 . . 2020 . La Paz . 105–107 . es .
• Book: Romero Ballivián, Salvador. Salvador Romero. Diccionario Biográfico de Parlamentarios 1979–2019 . Fundación de Apoyo al Parlamento y la Participación Ciudadana; Fundación Konrad Adenauer. 2018. 978-99974-0-021-5. 1050945993. Quiroga Velasco. Camilo Sergio. 2nd. La Paz. 645. es . ResearchGate.

External links

• Parliamentary profile Office of the Vice President .
• Parliamentary profile Chamber of Deputies . Archived from the original on 12 August 2020.

Notes and References

1. News: Tomasa Yarhui, una candidata obstinada . es . La Pública . live . 31 August 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220831220329/https://quierenlasilla.lapublica.org.bo/tbuilder-layout/yahuri/#yahuri . 31 August 2022.
2. News: Condori. Betty. 18 January 2015. Parlamentarios electos juran a sus cargos para la nueva legislatura. es. Opinión. Cochabamba. live. 13 June 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220116024959/https://www.opinion.com.bo/articulo/el-pais/parlamentarios-electos-juran-cargos-nueva-legislatura/20150118143200510834.html. 16 January 2022.
3. News: Ariñez . Rubén . 13 December 2015 . Legisladores jóvenes ocupan el 8,7% de escaños en la Asamblea . es . . La Paz . live . 31 August 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220831230431/https://www.la-razon.com/lr-article/legisladores-jovenes-ocupan-el-87-de-escanos-en-la-asamblea/ . 31 August 2022.
4. News: Torres . Cleidy . 20 April 2019 . Labor de legisladoras aún encuentra trabas en la Asamblea Legislativa . es . . Santa Cruz de la Sierra . dead . 31 August 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190506113725/https://eldeber.com.bo/bolivia/Labor-de-legisladoras-aun-encuentra-trabas-en-la-Asamblea-Legislativa-20190419-8624.html . 6 May 2019.
5. Web site: 2015-01-29 . La Cámara de Diputados conformó sus 12 Comisiones y 37 Comités: Gestión Legislativa 2015–2016 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150717014503/http://www.diputados.bo:80/index.php/noticias/actualidad-legislativa/1646-diputados-conformaron-sus-comisiones-y-comites . 2015-07-17 . 2022-11-22 . diputados.bo . . es . La Paz.
6. 692461221979750403. Diputados_Bol. La Cámara de Diputados conformó sus 12 Comisiones y 37 Comités: Gestión Legislativa 2016–2017. Chamber of Deputies. 2016-01-27. 2022-11-22. es. La Paz. https://web.archive.org/web/20221123072958/https://twitter.com/Diputados_Bol/status/692461221979750403. 2022-11-23. live.
7. 826588912852271104. Diputados_Bol. La Cámara de Diputados conformó sus 12 Comisiones y 37 Comités: Gestión Legislativa 2017–2018. Chamber of Deputies. 2017-01-31. 2022-11-22. es. La Paz. https://web.archive.org/web/20221123084029/https://twitter.com/Diputados_Bol/status/826588912852271104. 2022-11-23. live.
8. Web site: 2018-02-01 . La Cámara de Diputados conformó sus 12 Comisiones y 37 Comités: Gestión Legislativa 2018–2019 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20180214145500/http://www.diputados.bo:80/prensa/noticias/pese-las-pugnas-en-la-oposici%C3%B3n-la-c%C3%A1mara-de-diputados-conform%C3%B3-sus-12-comisiones-y . 2018-02-14 . 2022-11-22 . diputados.bo . . es . La Paz.
9. Web site: 2019-01-24 . La Cámara de Diputados conformó sus 12 Comisiones y 37 Comités: Gestión Legislativa 2019–2020 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20190128050536/http://www.diputados.bo:80/prensa/noticias/diputados-definen-conformaci%C3%B3n-de-comisiones-y-comit%C3%A9s-2019-2020-pese-pugnas-en-la . 2019-01-28 . 2022-11-22 . diptuados.bo . . es . La Paz.
10. News: 3 January 2022 . Damián Condori evalúa a su gabinete en pleno . es . . Sucre . live . 31 August 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220103152033/https://correodelsur.com/politica/20220103_damian-condori-evalua-a-su-gabinete-en-pleno.html . 3 January 2022.
11. News: 3 January 2022 . Damián Condori posesiona al gabinete 2022 de la Gobernación de Chuquisaca . es . . Sucre . live . 31 August 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220820075433/https://correodelsur.com/local/20220103_damian-condori-posesiona-al-gabinete-2022-de-la-gobernacion-de-chuquisaca.html . 20 August 2022.
12. News: 2023-01-03 . Condori ratifica a cuatro secretarios y cambia a tres en la Gobernación de Chuquisaca . es . . Sucre . live . 2023-01-03 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230103153747/https://correodelsur.com/local/20230103_condori-ratifica-a-cuatro-secretarios-y-cambia-a-tres-en-la-gobernacion-de-chuquisaca.html . 2023-01-03.
13. News: 2023-01-05 . Damián Condori posesiona a nuevos colaboradores . es . . Sucre . live . 2023-11-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230105143755/https://correodelsur.com/local/20230105_damian-condori-posesiona-a-nuevos-colaboradores.html . 2023-01-05.
14. Web site: Elecciones Generales 2014 Atlas Electoral . 5 June 2022 . atlaselectoral.oep.org.bo . . es . La Paz.