A poll conducted on Sunday shows that conservative-leaning candidates Juan Manuel Santos and Noemi Sanin continue to lead in the upcoming presidential elections, scheduled for May 30.
The results show Santos, from the Partido de la U, in the lead with 36% and Sanin, from the Conservative Party, trailing in second place with 17%, according to Semana.
The poll, which was organized by Colombian media sources Semana, La FM, and Caracol Television and Radio, is the first poll to be conducted following this past week’s presidential debate.
The results represent a small improvement for Santos, who is the former Defense Minister, since the last poll was released last week, climbing from 34.7% to 36%, while his opponent Sanin, the former ambassador to the UK, dropped from 23.3% to 17%.
With no candidate in the poll receiving the required 50% of the vote necessary to be declared president in the first round of the election, a runoff election would be required between the top two candidates, in which case the poll finds Santos winning with 44% compared to Sanin’s 30%, with the remaining 26% of respondents saying that they wouldn’t vote, don’t know who they would vote for, or would submit a blank vote.
The various polls’ results continue to reinforce the notion that Colombian voters are looking to support a candidate closely aligned to current President Alvaro Uribe, who currently enjoys a 77% approval rating.
Trailing the two leaders in the poll are Green Party candidate Antanas Mockus (9%), Cambio Radical nominee German Vargas (8%), Polo Democratico candidate Gustavo Petro (6%), independent Sergio Fajardo (5%), and Liberal party candidate Rafael Pardo (4%).
According to the Semana article, if the trailing opposition candidates fail to form alliances or withdraw from the election, the election would basically be between two Uribe-aligned successors.