The Colombian left achieved its best historic performance in a legislative election on Sunday (13), according to partial results.
With just over 90% of votes counted, the Pacto Histórico coalition, led by former guerrilla Gustavo Petro, won 17 of the 102 seats in the Senate. The traditional Conservative and Liberal parties won 15 seats each.
In the Chamber of Deputies, the alliance won 25 of the 165 seats, tying with the conservatives. Liberals, however, were chosen for 32 seats.
So far, the left’s best result in the country’s bicameral Congress was in the 2006 elections, when it won 17 seats in both chambers with the Democratic Polo party.
In addition to choosing the representatives of the legislature, Colombia also defined the candidates of the three main coalitions for the presidential election, which takes place on May 29.
A favorite in the presidential race, Petro secured the nomination for the Historic Pact. Former mayor of the country’s capital, Bogotá, he is a strong supporter of the state peace agreement with the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), signed in 2016 by then-President Juan Manuel Santos. Petro was a guerrilla of the M-19, a force that was active in the armed struggle and that, through another treaty, entered conventional politics in 1990.
Centro Esperanza, another coalition that elected its candidate, opted for Sergio Fajardo, former governor of Antioquia and former mayor of Medellín. The politician, linked to the center-left, is known for his reforms in the city and has 15% of the votes in the polls.
In the Equipo por Colombia coalition, more linked to the right, the name in the presidential election will be Federico Gutiérrez, a civil engineer who also governed Medellín. With a strong presence on social media and a focus on younger voters, he gathers 10% of voting intentions.
