Colombia elections: Petro takes lead, Congress divided
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Loading... - Andres Gomez
- 15 Mar 2022
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Bogota, Colombia – In presidential and legislative elections, Colombian voters signalled they want change, solidifying a left-wing former guerrilla member’s lead in the presidential race, and splitting the country’s Congress between right and left.
Centrists, meanwhile, lost out across the board, signifying the country’s deep political divide.
With most of the results tallied on Monday morning, leftist and former M-19 guerrilla member Gustavo Petro was the definitive winner in presidential primaries, gaining double the votes of any of his competitors.
“We’re at the gates of winning the presidency,” said Petro in a speech Sunday night after polls had closed.
The Latin American country appeared to be following a regional trend, following the tracks of countries like Chile, Peru and Honduras that have turned away from traditional leaders in favour of alternative candidates.
“We want change. That’s the most important thing,” voter Sarita Zapata Casas, a 22-year-old actress, told Al Jazeera as she left a Bogota polling station. “Because if the country continues like it is, we’re going to run ourselves into the ground.”
Election results also reflected the deep divisions in the country, with Petro’s right-wing challenger Federico “Fico” Gutierrez garnering enough support to pose a significant threat, and Congress divided – making it difficult for whoever wins the presidential race to build a coalition.
Petro, campaigning under the progressive coalition Pacto Historico, lost the presidency in 2018 to right-wing President Ivan Duque. Since then he has gained traction with voters on a platform that promises to more fairly distribute wealth, curtail oil and gas extraction, use tourist revenues to replace fuel profits and implement Colombia’s stalled peace process.
Petro received more than four million votes, with his coalition earning even more, but not a congressional majority. Gutierrez, a civil engineer who has run on job creation and has claimed to be “the opposite of Petro” garnered around two million votes. Read More...
