Green Alliance candidate Enrique Peñalosa is the predicted winner should he reach a second round with Juan Manuel Santos in this year’s presidential elections, said a national survey Wednesday.
A survey from the National Survey and Consulting Center and CM& news predicted what most polls have shown for months, that incumbent President Juan Manuel Santos is predicted to receive the most votes in the first round of presidential elections set for May 25.
The president did lose a few percentage points and received 27% of intentional votes. Peñalosa, a former Bogota mayor, received 18% of the intentional votes against 16% last week.
Oscar Ivan Zuluaga, endorsed by former President Alvaro Uribe, was up three and received 13%. The leftist Clara Lopez received 10% of the votes and 7% of intentional votes were for Conservative Party candidate Marta Lucia Ramirez.
Intentional votes – Round 1
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The survey also showed, however, that if Juan Manuel Santos and Enrique Peñalosa reach a runoff round because neither candidate has a majority of the vote then Peñalosa is actually favored with 42% of the vote to Santos’s 34%. This represents a 7% gain for Peñalosa since the March 17 poll.
Intentional votes – Round 2
If it is Santos and Zuluaga in the second round instead, Santos is predicted to win with 41% of the vote compared to Zuluaga’s 33%. Nevertheless this is a 3% increase for Zuluaga since March 17 and a 6% drop for Santos over the same short period.
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The overall presidential poll seems to be showing a slight decrease in support for Santos and simultaneous increases for his top two rivals Peñalosa and Zuluaga.
Enrique Peñalosa was chosen as the Green Alliance Candidate on March 9’s internal elections that coincided with Colombia’s congressional elections. He was mayor of Bogota from 1998 to 2001 but has not been elected to a public office since despite several attempts. Formerly a member of the Green party, Peñalosa is now the candidate for the Green Alliance, the party formed by the unity of the Green party and Progressive party in 2013.
