Campaigning for 2nd round election begins

Following Juan Manuel Santos‘ resounding first-round victory in Sunday’s elections, the Partido de la U presidential candidate and his Green Party Antanas Mockus counterpart begin to strategize their moves for the second round election on June 20.

Santos told Radio Santa Fe that he did not yet feel like the president after his resounding first-round win, in which he received 46.56% of the vote, but said that he plans to achieve a “clear and strong mandate” with victory in the second.

The Partido de la U candidate said that he and his party aim to work hard to increase electoral strength in the run-off election on June 20.

“Governments of national unity can achieve very ambitious goals and present circumstances which will allow us to generate employment, and globally position the country,” Santos said.

Santos said that a “government of national unity” would be able to make the leap from democratic security, which has been a cornerstone policy of President Uribe’s government, to democratic prosperity.

The presidential candidate stressed that the doors are open for anyone who wanted to offer their endorsement, saying that he is “willing to turn the page and forget the attacks” he suffered during the campaign.

Meanwhile Mockus, who fared worse than predicted in the elections with 21.49% of the vote, said that he would not rush into forming political alliances with other parties, but would cautiously look at forming the coalition necessary to overturn the wide gap between himself and Santos.

“I do not believe in traditional arrangements between traditional parties,” Mockus said.

The Green leader met his party behind closed doors Monday, to discuss campaign strategies for the next three weeks.

“Santos is closer [to winning] but we have three weeks to think up alternatives. It is clearly possible [for us to win], it is unlikely, but possible,” Mockus said.

Given that no candidate received the majority vote needed to win the first round election outright, the two most popular candidates, Santos and Mockus, will now face-off in a second round election scheduled for June 20.

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