During Colombia’s legislative elections this Sunday, the leftist ruling party and main opposition party were on track to win the largest number of seats in Congress; however, according to preliminary vote counting, neither party was able to secure a majority.
Preliminary results showed the right-wing Democratic Centre party, led by former president Alvaro Uribe, and the leftist Historic Pact—which brought President Gustavo Petro to power—were expected to secure the largest share of seats in Colombia’s Senate, in a contest marked by high abstention.
The level of support guarantees them a significant number of Senate seats, but without achieving an absolute majority.
Several traditional parties, including the Colombian Conservative Party, Colombian Liberal Party, Social Party of National Unity, Radical Change, and Green Alliance, were also expected to secure representation.
In the lower house, the Democratic Centre and Historic Pact were likewise set to hold the largest blocs in the chamber, though neither seemed on course for an absolute majority. Analysts predicted that the vote would be divided amongst approximately two dozen parties, possibly forcing the next president to form a coalition government.
Presidential Election Primaries
In addition to choosing from over 3,000 candidates to fill 102 Senate seats and 182 House seats, voters also chose three of the presidential candidates who would run for office in Colombia’s presidential elections this May.
The right-wing primary for the presidential election was won by Democratic Centre Senator Paloma Valencia, while former Senator Roy Barreras, an ally of Petro, prevailed for the leftist group. Former Bogota Mayor Claudia Lopez won the centrist primary.
The three winners will participate in the May Presidential election and will face Abelardo De La Espriella, Ivan Cepeda, and Sergio Dajardo, the other representatives of the right, lef,t and centre, respectively. They chose to run directly in the first round of elections.
More than 41.2 million people were eligible to vote. Abstention was over 50%, according to the preliminary results.
President Gustavo Petro, whose term ends in August, has repeatedly expressed concerns regarding the software being used for the vote count during the elections, alleging possible irregularities. Meanwhile, National Registrar Hernan Penagos has guaranteed the transparency of the vote and said party observers are free to verify the software’s results.
There were some isolated reports of attempted vote buying by some politicians. About 246,000 members of the armed forces and national police were deployed to provide security at polling stations across the country, to prevent any electoral crimes or attacks by illegal armed groups.
(With inputs from Reuters)
