'World's most humble President' steps down: What makes him humble?
A president is a high-level official who is elected to carry out a function. He is not a king, not a god. He is not the witch doctor of a tribe who knows everything. He is a civil servant. I think the ideal way of living is to live like the vast majority of people whom we attempt to serve and represent- Jose says
What you need to know:
His charitable donations - which benefit poor people and small entrepreneurs - mean his salary is roughly in line with the average Uruguayan income of $775 (£485) a month
It's a common grumble that politicians' lifestyles are far removed from those of their electorate. Not so in Uruguay. Meet the president - who lives on a ramshackle farm and gives away most of his pay.
Forget honorifics like “you're excellency” or “Mr. President” or even “Sir,” Uruguayans call their outgoing president simply, "Pepe."
Jose Mujica is a former guerrilla leader, who lives in a small cottage and gives away 80% of his salary.
Uruguay's new President, Tabare Vazquez will be sworn in on Sunday.
He will be replacing a head of state who has gained celebrity status for his humble lifestyle.
1. Mujica never occupied the presidential palace, he has never driven around in chauffeured limousines, rather, the 79-year-old head of state continues to live in his own country house 20 minutes outside of the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo and continues to drive around in his old, beat-up Volkswagen Beetle
2. He donated 90 per cent of his salary to charity
President Mujica - pictured here with his wife Sen. Lucia Topolansky, is thought to donate much of his $11,000-a-month salary to homeless charities. Courtesy Photo
Mujica donates about 90% of his monthly salary, equivalent to $12,000 (£7,500), to charity - has led him to be labelled the poorest president in the world.
His charitable donations - which benefit poor people and small entrepreneurs - mean his salary is roughly in line with the average Uruguayan income of $775 (£485) a month
In 2010, his annual personal wealth declaration - mandatory for officials in Uruguay - was $1,800 (£1,100), the value of his 1987 Volkswagen Beetle.
In 2012, he added half of his wife's assets - land, tractors and a house - reaching $215,000 (£135,000).
That's still only about two-thirds of Vice-President Danilo Astori's declared wealth, and a third of the figure declared by Mujica's predecessor as president, Tabare Vasquez
"I may appear to be an eccentric old man... But this is a free choice. I live well with what i have." he said when asked why.
3. Lives on a farm- Not official state house
Mujica, a former leftist Tupamaro guerrilla leader, famously eschewed the presidential palace after he took office in 2010, and continues to live in a ramshackle farm which is in his wife's name. Courtesy Photo
With just his three-legged dog Manuela and two police officers for security, Mujica lives on a small farm on the outskirts of the capital Montevideo. In a 2012 interview with the BBC, he explained: “I’m called ‘the poorest president’, but I don’t feel poor. Poor people are those who only work to try to keep an expensive lifestyle, and always want more and more,” he says.
4 He drives a 1987 blue VW Beetle- No convoy
President Mujica and his wife are well-known for their humble lifestyle. Mujica once declared that his 1987 Volkswagen Beetle - a symbol of his famously austere lifestyle - was his only asset. AP Photo
While most presidents travel around in chauffeur-driven porsch cars, the former Uruguayan president drives his own beat-up Beetle. He was even offered $1m for the car by an Arab Sheikh, but said he didn’t give the offer “any importance”.
5. And picks up hitch-hikers- Does not pass them at high speed
The President of Uruguay proved that he has a generous nature when he recently gave a lift to an unsuspecting hitchhiker
Gerhald Acosta according to daily mail had been forced to leave his job at the Montes del Plata paper mill early and was walking home from work when a good Samaritan offered to give him a lift.
The shocked hitchhiker told a local newspaper that it was only as he got into the car - the president's iconic 1987 blue Volkswagen Beetle - that he recognised that the elderly couple was actually President Jose Mujica and his wife Sen. Lucia Topolansky.
The accommodating president and his wife even allowed Gerhald to take a couple of photographs as a memento during the short journey, which he later uploaded onto his Facebook page
6. He is the president that legalised marijuana/ Weed
Mujica took a bold step by legalising Marijuana and wehn asked, he replied:
“150,000 people smoke [marijuana] here and I couldn’t leave them at the mercy of drugs traffickers,” he explained. “It’s easier to control something if it’s legal and that’s why we’ve done this.”
7. Dressing sense and leadership style
Jose Mujica (Middle) in shorts and flat shoes. Photo by world.mic
Mujica does not care about the red carpets, the pomp and the rest. he puts on casual clothes for official functions and never wears a tie. He is simply himself, thats basing on this comment:
"As soon as politicians start climbing up the ladder, they suddenly become kings. I don’t know how it works, but what I do know is that republics came to the world to make sure that no one is more than anyone else. You need a palace, red carpet, a lot of people behind you saying ‘Yes, sir.’ I think all of that is awful."
Story sourced through The Independent, BBC, and Daily Mail
