Presidential elections in Colombia head to runoff
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- Published: Monday, 28 May 2018 16:42
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Photo: RHCBogota, May 28.- No candidate for the presidential elections held in Colombia on Sunday achieved the required 50% of the votes and the process is heading to a run-off on June 17 between Ivan Duque and Gustavo Petro.
With nearly all of the ballots counted, former President Alvaro Uribe's protégée, right-wing Democratic Center party Ivan Duque, was projected to obtain over 45 percent of the vote, while center-left former mayor of Bogota, Gustavo Petro, won 25 percent of the popular vote.
Martha Ramirez will continue to run as Duque's vice president and Angela Robledo as the vice-presidential candidate with Gustavo Petro.
These are the first presidential elections since the achievement of the peace accord between the government and the FARC rebels, and the first time in the history of Colombia that a left-leaning candidate reaches the second round of such polls.
The winner of the second round will begin a four-year term in office from August onwards.
Around 36 million Colombians were eligible to vote. The final outcome of the elections is expected to shape the future of the 2016 peace.
According to observers, the next Colombian president may determine the fate of the peace treaty that the republic’s government inked with rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia People's Army (FARC) in November 2016. (RHC)
