"Colombia experienced a day of elections in transparency and respect for rights," rejoiced the head of the Colombian electoral authority, Alexander Vega.

Colombians voted Sunday, March 13, to renew for four years the 296 members of the Senate and the Lower House, an outgoing parliament controlled by a right in power out of breath.

They also had the opportunity to take part in the primaries of the main parties to choose the presidential candidates of May 29, in which the outgoing president, the conservative Ivan Duque, cannot stand again.

It was a question of designating, as one chooses, the candidate of one of the three coalitions of center-right, center-left, or left. 

In a country where the violence of armed groups has increased alarmingly in recent years, the government welcomed "total normality" in the conduct of the vote in the 12,500 polling stations across the territory.

Two soldiers were nevertheless killed and two others injured in bomb attacks in the south of the country, according to the army.

The electoral authority confirmed a cyberattack against its website shortly before the opening of the polls, but was able to contain it quickly.

The growing popularity of the left

The primaries, sometimes described as the first round before the hour, monopolized most of the debates.

And as expected, the left-wing candidate Gustavo Petro, leading all the polls in recent months, won with 80.23% of the vote at the head of the "Historical Pact", the left-wing coalition, against the Afro -environmentalist Francia Marquez (15%), according to provisional results.

Ex-guerrilla converted to social-democratic "progressivism", Gustavo Petro should face on May 29 the former mayor of Medellin, Federico Gutierrez, who will represent the center-right coalition ("Team for Colombia"), and the ex- Governor of the powerful department of Antoquia Sergio Fajardo for the centre-left coalition "Centre Esperance", according to the same provisional results.

Other candidates are already in the race, including Oscar Zuluaga for the ruling party of the "Democratic Center", which does not take off in the voting intentions, the independent Rodolfo Hernandez, and the former Franco-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt .

All three abstained from running in the primaries and are running under the colors of their own party.

These results truly mark the beginning of the race for the presidency, in a country historically governed by the right, where the accession of the left would be a political earthquake.

"Today, change begins at the ballot box, with a vote that brings hope and life to Colombia", commented Gustavo Petro after his vote in the center of Bogota.

Index that the left has the wind in its sails, nearly 48% of voters in the primaries chose to speak for the "Historical Pact", to the detriment of the two other coalitions.

Legislative elections that do not excite

These presidential primaries momentarily eclipsed the legislative ones, the counting of the results of which arrived in dribs and drabs.

As Colombia emerged overwhelmed by the economic ravages of the pandemic and hurt by the crackdown on massive spring 2021 protests against power, analysts predicted a sanction vote against the outgoing right-wing government and the ruling Democratic Center party. ".

With AFP

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