The leftist Colombian political party Polo Democratico declared its opposition to the incoming government of Juan Manuel Santos and said that it represents “the only and the true” opposition to the new leadership, in its opening address to the new Congress.
Party spokesman Jorge Enrique Robledo said that Polo Democratico has a firm intention to continue with the opposition stance it held for the eight years of the government of outgoing Colombian President Avaro Uribe, because Santos represents continuity with the previous administration.
“The debate is not whether democratic security resulted in security for Colombians, but whether it is democratic and how democratic it will be with false positives” said Robledo in a speech at the induction of the new Senate.
The congressman also labelled Santos’ “national unity” agreement as “nothing more than a plutocratic regime to ensure minorities and the poor are not respected.”
The radical left-wing party gained just over 7% of the votes in Colombia’s March 14 Congressional elections, nearly 3% lower than in the last elections. Polo Democratico recently appealed to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for protection, after over 100 of its members received threats from illegal groups
Robledo later told W Radio Robledo that he believes the new Congress will be “worse than before.”
In reference to allegations of fraud surrounding the presidential elections, he said, “what this shows is that the elections in Colombia are contests of corruption and voter coercion, which do not represent the true political composition of the country.”
“I have no illusions about the new Congress” Robledo told the radio station, “When the origin is tainted it is difficult for the results not to be. There is no hope.”
Santos will be sworn into office on August 7.