Colombia’s President Ivan Duque met with President-elect Gustavo Petro on Thursday to coordinate the transition of power before August.
The meeting is part of a process that began after the presidential elections on Sunday and will last until Petro’s formal inauguration on August 7.
Ahead of the meeting, National Registrar Alexander Vega formally declared Colombia’s president-elect. His former running mate, Francia Marquez, became Colombia’s first black female vice-President-elect.
Duque and his successor have appointed teams that will be responsible for a transition of power that goes as smooth as possible.
Petro appointed his former program manager Daniel Rojas as the leader of his team that will coordinate the transition of power with outgoing Finance Minister Jose Manuel Restrepo.
Meanwhile, members of Petro’s progressive “Historic Pact” party are negotiating with other political parties to form a government coalition in Congress.
The Historic Pact became Colombia’s biggest political party in the congressional elections in March, but needs the support of at least two other parties for a congressional majority.
In order to achieve this, Petro’s party has begun negotiations with the Liberal Party, which is the most powerful force in the House of Representatives.
Senator Roy Barreras said that the Historic Pact has also approached other parties to secure a majority in Congress.
Duque’s far-right “Democratic Center” party announced that it would take return to the opposition.