Moderate and centrist parties lost significantly against the radical left and the far-right in Colombia’s congressional elections on Sunday.
The outcome will likely perpetuate tensions between Colombia’s executive and legislative branches after President Gustavo Petro, an outspoken leftist, leaves office in August.
Petro’s most likely successor, the leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda, would face a radicalized opposition if he wins the presidential elections later this year.
Far-right wins too
With 68.9% of the votes counted, the main backer of both Petro and Cepeda, the leftist Historic Pact party, received 22.8% of the Senate votes.
This is a major win compared to the 17% of the votes the party received in 2022.
The far-right Democratic Center party, which led the opposition to Petro in the past four years, also advanced significantly.
The party of former President Alvaro Uribe went from 11.5% in 2022 to 15.6% this year and became the second largest party in the Senate.
National Salvation, the party that backs the far-right runner-up in the presidential polls, Abelardo de la Espriella, jumped from 0.18% to 3.4% of the votes and likely met the threshold for a Senate seat.
Senate election
Moderates lose significantly
The main losers in the apparently polarizing elections were Colombia’s moderate and traditional parties.
The Conservative Party, the second largest party after the 2022 elections, lost more than three percentage points and received less than 10% of the votes.
Radical Change, another conservative party, went from 9.5% in 2022 to 6.1% this year.
The Liberal Party dropped almost one point to 11.8% and the U Party, a dissident liberal party, went from 8.9% in 2022 to 8.2% this year.
The Green Alliance, which largely supported the outgoing government in Congress, lost more than one point and received 10% of the votes.
Next president forced to deal with polarized Congress
The strengthened position of the radicals on both the left and the right will likely perpetuate tensions in Bogota.
Petro failed to push almost all of his radical reform proposal through Congress because he failed to form a majority coalition in the Senate.
The incoming president will be dealing with an even more polarized Congress.
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