daajis.com:- Early vote counting in Colombia’s six-party presidential election on Sunday signaled a run-off in June, with former leftist insurgent Gustavo Petro main within the polls amid rising discontent over rising inequality and inflation.
Electoral authorities mentioned Sunday night that Petro, the senator and front-runner all through the election marketing campaign, had acquired greater than 40% of the vote and was succeeded by populist businessman Rodolfo Hernandez, who has gained almost 28%, with greater than 94% of the vote counted.
Petro wanted 50% of the overall vote to keep away from a second spherical run on the runner-up. The anti-establishment candidate promised main reforms to the financial system, together with tax reform, and alter the way in which Colombia fights drug cartels and different armed teams.
Petro’s victory would add to a string of left-wing political victories in Latin America as individuals search change at a time of dissatisfaction with the financial state of affairs. Chile, Peru, and Honduras have elected left-wing presidents in 2021, and in Brazil, former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is main this 12 months’s presidential election. Mexico elected a leftist president in 2018.
“The principle downside within the nation is the inequality of circumstances, and the work is just not effectively paid,” mentioned Jenny Bello, who was promoting espresso close to a protracted line of voters below a typical cloudy sky within the capital, Bogota. She needed to flip to unofficial gross sales after months of not working because of the pandemic.
This was the second presidential election to be held for the reason that authorities in 2016 signed a peace settlement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, often known as FARC by its Spanish initials. However the divisive settlement was not a serious subject in the course of the marketing campaign as challenges exacerbated by the pandemic, together with poverty and inflation, grabbed consideration.
Election day came about in a peaceable environment in most components of the nation. However Protection Minister Diego Molano mentioned three explosions within the south-central state of Guaviare came about in rural areas removed from polling stations, wounding a soldier with shrapnel, including that dissident teams from the FARC had been accountable. Dissidents function within the space.
In the meantime, dozens of Colombians who needed to return house to vote confronted difficulties on the border with Venezuela. The non-governmental group, the Colombian Election Remark Mission, complained that “the Venezuelan guards prevented the passage of Colombians” by the border bridges.
Immigration authorities in Colombia mentioned an settlement referred to as for Colombians registered to vote at border consulates to be allowed to enter their house nation.
Petro mentioned he would restore diplomatic relations with the federal government of Nicolás Maduro, which has been lower off with Duque since 2019.
It’s Petro’s third try to be a South American head of state. He was defeated in 2018 by Duque, who was ineligible for re-election.
Petro’s victory will usher in a brand new political period in a rustic that has at all times been dominated by conservatives or moderates whereas the left has been marginalized resulting from its perceived affiliation with the nation’s armed battle. He was as soon as a insurgent with the now-defunct M-19 motion and was pardoned after being imprisoned for his involvement with the group.
He has promised main changes to the financial system, together with tax reform, in addition to modifications in how Colombia fights drug cartels and different armed teams.
Petro’s important rival for many of the marketing campaign was Federico Gutierrez, the previous mayor of Medellín backed by Colombia’s most conventional events and who operated on a pro-business financial development platform.
However Hernandez, an actual property mogul with few connections to political events, has risen in latest polls. He has promised to scale back wasteful authorities spending and provide rewards to individuals who report corrupt officers.
Gutierrez has promised to battle starvation by extending subsidies and public-private alliances in order that meals that’s wasted is directed to the poor.
A Gallup ballot carried out earlier this month confirmed that 75% of Colombians suppose the nation is heading within the improper course and solely 27% approve of Duque. A Gallup ballot final 12 months discovered that 60% of these questioned had issue managing their revenue.
The coronavirus pandemic has set again the nation’s anti-poverty efforts for not less than a decade. Official figures confirmed that 39% of Colombia’s 51.6 million residents lived on lower than $89 a month final 12 months, a slight enchancment from the 42.5% fee from 2020.
In the meantime, inflation within the nation final month reached its highest stage in 20 years. The Duque administration justified the 9.2% fee for April by saying it was a part of a world inflation phenomenon, however the controversy didn’t quell resentment over elevated meals costs.
mentioned Juan David Gonzalez, 28, who voted for the second time within the presidential election.
Along with financial challenges, the following Colombian president may also should take care of a fancy safety downside and corruption, which is a serious concern for voters.
The Purple Cross concluded final 12 months that Colombia had reached the best stage of violence prior to now 5 years.
Regardless of the implementation of the peace settlement with the FARC, the territory and drug-smuggling routes it as soon as managed are disputed between different armed teams such because the ELN, or ELN, a guerrilla battle based within the Sixties, and defectors from the armed forces. Revolutionary Columbia and the Gulf Tribe Cartel.
Duque’s successor must determine whether or not to renew peace talks with the Nationwide Liberation Military, which he suspended in 2019 after an assault that killed greater than 20 individuals.
Conscious of voters’ issues about corruption, actual property mogul Rodolfo Hernandez has put the difficulty on the heart of his marketing campaign. Hernandez, the previous mayor of Bucaramanga, rose abruptly within the remaining part of the marketing campaign after promising to “clear up” the nation of corruption and donate his wage.
The opposite candidates are Sergio Fajardo, a former mayor of Medellin and a candidate for the Heart Alliance. Christian chief John Milton Rodriguez and conservative Enrique Gomez.
(AFP)
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