The reforms to continue economic growth and advance rights, unprecedented polarization in the country and discontent over unsatisfied social demands are among the challenges that whoever wins Colombia’s presidential elections will face.
This situation, moreover, is part of a challenge that is becoming more acute: the increase in violence and the dilemma that will be presented to the next president, sit down to negotiate with the armed groups and the guerrillas or continue with an approach of “peace with legality” that the current government has championed.
Added to this is the pressure to maintain economic growth – 10.6% of GDP in 2021– that Colombia has experienced and its responsibility to adopt measures that guarantee its continuity and at the same time bend the country’s inflation curve.
Along these lines, “the first thing the next government has to do is ensure there are resources to be able to carry out all the social reforms,” warns political analyst Pedro Viveros in an interview with Efe, where he points to the need to approve a tax reform with which, for the moment, all the candidates have shown their agreement.
A woman sells roasted corn today, during the election day to elect the president of Colombia. Photo EFE
This reform should be accompanied by another of the pensions, two large legislative projects for which the next president will have to seek support in Congress, where he will run into another challenge: polarization, since there are “great divisions”in the words of Viveros.
The demands that Colombians took to the streets during the last two social outbreaks, in 2019 and 2021, continue to be a pending issue that the next president will have to face, trying to promote a “more inclusive production model”which takes into account the issue of land and food security, explains analyst Yann Basset, professor of Political Science at the Universidad del Rosario.
Uncertainty
“Deep down there is a lot of uncertainty about what a leftist government could be like in Colombia,” says Basset, referring to Petro and about “what kind of institutional challenge would it pose”.
The agenda in case of Petro’s victory would revolve around “how to make the Colombian institutional system (…) work with such a drastic change with respect to the political culture of the country”, especially without having a majority in Congress Basset explains.
Indeed, “Colombia is a country of centerand it is paradoxical that the two candidates leading the polls are the one on the right and the one on the left”, adds Basset.
A voting center, during the election day to elect the president of Colombia for the period 2022-2026 in Bogotá (Colombia). Photo EFE
This is a phenomenon that brings with it “a challenge of managing public opinion and a discontent that it has expressed itself very strongly and that it could manifest itself again,” adds Basset, referring to the second candidate in the polls, from the right-wing Team for Colombia.
The campaign has also brought “many exaggerated fears and much exaggerated enthusiasm” in an environment in which “many emotions” have been involved, according to the analyst.
Other challenges
Both analysts also agree on the urgency of promoting a more sustainable energy modelas well as addressing the issue of drug trafficking and drugs.
Other challenges for whoever wins the Presidency will be the implementation of the peace agreementz, especially after the increase in violence that the country has experienced in recent months and the criticism of the current Administration for the ineffectiveness of its application.
In the international arena, Venezuela will be one of the key players: restore relations completely or opt for a more gradual process. In any case “there is almost a consensus and a will to resume relations at the level of management of current affairs”, concludes Viveros.
EFE Agency
PB