The Historical Pactthe Colombian leftist coalition led by former mayor and now presidential candidate Gustavo Petro, won this Sunday 16 seats in the Senate and 25 in the House of Representatives, a historic result in legislative elections in which the The big loser was the Uribista Democratic Center. The left-wing movement channeled into the polls citizen unrest against the economic and social policies of the government of Iván Duque, expressed in the massive protests last year. However, the celebration the best result of the progressive forces in legislative elections is not complete because will face a conservative majority in Congress.
Until now, the best performance of the left in a legislative election was in 2006when it reached 17 seats in both chambers with the Polo Democrático party: this time the historical pact won a total of 41 seats. The left led by Petro will have to forge alliances with the centrist Green Alliance Coalition, the Liberals or the Comunes party, made up of former FARC guerrillas who signed the peace in 2016. In this way they will try to counteract the power of the Conservative and Liberal Parties, the most voted in these legislative elections.
Petro He highlighted this Monday the importance of the results obtained in the legislative elections: “If we win the presidency, the possibility of configuring a coalition of progressive majorities in Congress has been completely opened. Reforms are possible now. And the stability of the progressive government is highly possible“said the former mayor of Bogotá in a message on Twitter. The flags of the Historical Pact will be raised, among others, by congressmen such as Maria Jose Pizarro, Ivan Cepeda, piety cordoba and Gustavo Bolivaras well as by new names, including former mayor Esmeralda Hernández or activist María Fernanda Carrascal.
The decline of Uribe
Despite the fact that the Democratic Center candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay, former Secretary of the Government of Bogotá, received the most votes of all the candidates for the Senate with 218,909 votes, Uribismo experienced its lowest hours in these elections. This party will go from being the predominant force, with 19 senators, to occupying a discreet fifth place with only 14. So abrupt is the fall of the Democratic Center what in these elections he obtained 1.8 million votes, almost 700 thousand less than four years ago.
In the House of Representatives, Uribismo did not do well either, since it lost 17 seats by going from 32 representatives to 15 in these elections, which shows the disapproval of the government of President Iván Duque. The other big loser on the right was Cambio Radical, a party led by former Vice President Germán Vargas Lleras, which barely won 11 seats in the Senate and 16 in the Lower House.
Controversy with the peace benches
Monday’s controversy was starred Jorge Tovar, son of former paramilitary “Jorge 40”who led the results in the special district of peace number 12, which will allow him occupy a seat in the House of Representatives intended for victims of the armed conflict in northern Colombia. Jorge 40, former commander of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia who fought the leftist guerrillas with blood and fire, faces dozens of trials for massacres and displacement. The rise of his son generated criticism in social organizations and politicians who view him with suspicion.
However, his case is not the only one, since throughout the campaign alleged irregularities or shortcomings with which the process has had to deal were reported, such as the lack of funding or the insecurity faced by the candidates. . It was also denounced that the traditional parties put candidates among the victims to increase their power in the lower house.
Petro heading for the presidency
On Sunday, the candidates of the main coalitions were also voted in primaries for the first round of the presidential elections, scheduled for May 29, in which the high vote in favor of Gustavo Petro, official candidate of the Historical Pact to succeed Duque as president of Colombia.
In the consultations to elect a candidate in the right-wing Team for Colombia, Federico “Fico” Gutiérrez prevailed, an ally of Uribism that reached 54.18 percent of the vote. Gutierrez, former mayor of Medellin, invited former Governor Sergio Fajardo, winner of the Centro Esperanza Coalition’s consultation, to form an alliance to face Petro together.
Gutiérrez’s proposal had an initial impact on the resignation of the presidential candidacy announced by Oscar Iván Zuluaga, from Centro Democrático, who had not competed in Sunday’s primaries. “I have made the personal decision to renounce the presidential candidacy to accompany the aspiration of Federico Gutiérrez,” Zuluaga said in a video released on his social networks.
The 63-year-old businessman and former finance minister explained that he was abandoning the presidential race “in view of the electoral results.” The three candidates who went to internships on Sunday join, among others, the independent Rodolfo Hernández, backed by the League of Anticorruption Governors, and the former hostage of the extinct FARC guerrilla, Íngrid Betancourt.