Colombians will go to the polls on Sunday in the first presidential election since the historic peace deal was signed with FARC rebels.
The two main contenders to succeed Nobel Peace Laureate Manuel Santos are Ivan Duque from the right wing Democratic Centre party, and Gustavo Petro from the left-wing Humane Colombia Movement.
The latest polls indicate that neither of the two frontrunners will get a 50 per cent majority which would mean they’d face off in a second round on June 17th.
Duque is currently ahead in the polls with an estimated 40 percent of the vote while Petro trails him by 10 points.
The Presidential elections will be held in Colombia on Sunday 27 May 2018. If no candidate receives a majority of the vote, a second round will be held on 17 June. Incumbent President Juan Manuel Santos is ineligible for re-election, having already served two terms. The elected candidate will serve a four-year term from 7 August 2018 to 7 August 2022.
Duque’s lead is due in part to the support from the founder of his party former president Alvaro Uribe Velez. Uribe, a fierce opponent of the peace deal is one of the most controversial and divisive figures of Colombian politics.
President from 2002 to 2010 he implemented the U.S. backed war on drugs and took a hardline militaristic approach to the conflict. While Uribe’s supporters point to the fact that drug production did indeed go down, his presidency was rocked by human rights abuse scandals. These include the infamous “false positive” scandal in which the Colombian military reportedly murdered hundreds of innocent colombians and disguised them as rebels.
The outcome of the election could have drastic consequences for Colombia, with two diametrically opposed visions of the country on the ballot everything from the implementation of the peace process to the economic model for the country could change.
One hot issue the next president will have to deal with is the peace negotiations with Colombia’s other major insurgent group the ELN that have been put on standby for the duration of the electoral period.
