There will be no recount of the votes in the senatorial of Colombia
Colombian presidential candidate Gustavo Petro after winning the nomination of the left-wing coalition, the Pacto Historico, for next May's presidential election, in Bogota, Colombia March 13, 2022. © REUTERS/Luisa Gonzalez
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
The Colombian electoral authority finally gave up on Tuesday, March 22, asking for a recount of the ballots for the senatorial elections of March 13, after inconsistencies in the initial count raised suspicions of fraud on the right and on the left.
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"
For the tranquility of the political forces, I will not submit a request for a recount of the ballots
", declared the head of the electoral authority, Alexander Vega, during a meeting with the government and representatives of the political parties.
Under the fire of criticism from power and the opposition, Mr. Vega announced on Monday a new count of the ballot papers for the elections to the Upper House.
The left, which largely won the parliamentary elections (legislative and senatorial) reacted by denouncing an attempt at manipulation.
The left-wing candidate for the presidency Gustavo Petro had notably considered that it was a question of reducing the votes obtained in the provisional count.
“The votes are under seal, the chain of custody is maintained and we give all the support to the judges of the Republic to complete the control
,” replied Mr. Vega, who insisted that there was no reason to suspect fraud.
“
It is a good thing that we are returning to the democratic institutional order in the counting of the elections
”, reacted Mr. Petro on Twitter after learning of the decision of the head of the electoral authority.
Although volvamos a la institutionalidad democrática en el escrutinio electoral.
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) March 22, 2022
Right-wing ex-president Alvaro Uribe (2002-2010), leader of the ruling Democratic Center, and outgoing president Ivan Duque also called for a recount of the votes.
The European Union Election Observation Mission had pointed out flaws in the design of the forms for recording the results, considering that this procedure was "
extremely complex
" and "
prone to
(...)
errors
".
Colombians are called to the polls for the presidential election on May 29, and Gustavo Petro is the favorite in the polls.
His victory would constitute a political earthquake in this Latin American country historically still ruled by the right.
(
with AFP
)
►
To read also: The Colombian center-right tries to block a possible victory for the left in the presidential election
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Colombia
Ivan Duque
Alvaro Uribe