Colombians went to the polls Sunday to draw up a shortlist of candidates for presidential elections that may yield the country’s first-ever leftist leader. Nearly 39 million of Colombia’s 50 million inhabitants were eligible to cast ballots in a complex but critical election in a country plagued by violence and growing poverty levels.
“Starting now, our auditors begin counting the votes,” election authority head Alexander Vega said when polls closed throughout the country at 4:00 pm local time (2100 GMT). “Our voting stations worked correctly throughout the whole country,” he said. On one part of the ballot, voters chose the composition of the Senate and House of Representatives, currently in the hands of right-wing parties. But all eyes will be on the presidential primaries — called inter-party “consultations” — happening alongside the legislative vote.
In a country with a history of political violence and voter turnout traditionally below 50 percent, outgoing President Ivan Duque — who called Colombians to vote as a “rejection of violence” through the “triumph of democracy” — has promised safety “guarantees” for the non-compulsory vote. It comes with the president and legislature both at rock-bottom levels of public opinion. Colombia has always been ruled by the political right. But polls show that 61-year-old Gustavo Petro — a former guerrilla, ex-Bogota mayor and senator on the political left — stands a real chance of winning. Also in the running is Ingrid Betancourt, who was once held hostage by the guerrillas of the now-defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). She is vying to represent centrist parties as an alternative to both the ruling right and Petro.
Sunday’s process is to yield three presidential contenders from 15 candidates hoping to represent groups of politically aligned parties — one each for the left, right and center. —APP
