In Colombia, the March 13 legislative elections will be remembered for a long time. Called to the polls to renew the 295 members of Congress, the country’s legislative body formed by the House of Representatives and the Senate, nearly 39 million voters were also invited to nominate three of the candidates for the next presidential election, scheduled for May 29 and June 19. This first stage was won hands down by Gustavo Petro and his left-wing coalition called “Pacto historico” (“Historical Pact”).
Historic breakthrough
Unsurprisingly, the former M19 guerrilla fighter was voted for by left-wing voters, winning 80.5% of the vote. With more than 4.5 million votes in his favour, he clearly distances Federico Guitiérrez, appointed to lead the Team for Colombia coalition (right), and Sergio Fajardo, winner of the Center Espérance primary (center left) .
Beaten by the current president, Ivan Duque, in 2018, Gustavo Petro will this time be able to count on the strength of the left-wing coalition. By winning 16 seats in the Senate and 25 in the House of Representatives, the Colombian left achieves a historic result and asserts itself as the second political force in the country behind the Liberal Party. “The Historic Pact has achieved the best results of progressivism in the history of the Republic of Colombia”welcomed the 61-year-old candidate, now a big favorite in the presidential race.
“It’s a great victory for Gustavo Petro because the legislative elections are not favorable to the left, which is less well established locally than the traditional right and center parties”, analyzes Yann Basset, professor of political science at the University of Rosario in Bogota. Six years after the peace agreement signed between the Colombian government and the Farcs guerrillas, the Colombians seem ready to turn the page of sixty years of a conflict that claimed more than 9 million victims.
16 bitter-tasting “peace seats”
Poverty, housing, health system, abortion: the themes of the left are essential in the presidential campaign. Symbol of these fundamental developments, the excellent result in the left primary of Francia Marquez, Afro-Colombian social leader, third in the consultation in the number of votes. A score that could force Gustavo Petro to choose her as vice-president.
→ REPORT. In Colombia, Ingrid Betancourt revives towards the presidency
“The result of Francia Marquez shows that the presidential candidates will have to respond to the discontent expressed during the major social movements of recent years”, observes Yann Basset. Answers that the Democratic Center of the current president, Ivan Duque, has not been able to give. Orphan of the figure of ex-president Alvaro Uribe, and suffering from record unpopularity due to numerous scandals, the ruling party lost 22 seats in Congress.
Another issue of this legislative election of a historic nature, the election of 16 victims to the House of Representatives, through the “seats for peace” which were specially reserved for them. While the initiative has generated a lot of enthusiasm, the results sometimes leave a bitter taste, as in the department of Cesar, in the northwest of the country, where the son of a former paramilitary leader won.