Colombia: Right wins amid high abstention, disillusionment

Colombia: Right wins amid high abstention, disillusionment

Saturday, May 31, 2014

By Hannah Matthews

With right-wing parties gaining footholds throughout the world, Colombia followed suit with the far-right party, Democratic Centre (CD) winning with a narrow lead in the first round of the presidential elections on May 25. CD won just under 30% of the vote.

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Despite the right winning the majority, the left has made considerable progress. This was perhaps due to the tactical decision to merge the campaign of Polo with the Patriotic Union (UP) in an bid to unite the left and provide Colombians with a real alternative to the country’s traditional right-wing politics.

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With a 40% voter turnout for the first round, the sorry state of Colombian democracy was exposed. This was despite it being a crucial election for the future of the country, with the ending or continuation of the civil war at stake.

After Congressional elections in March were marred by fraud, irregularities, including vote-buying and party advertising on election day, fresh scandals were expected on May 25. However, in Colombia’s of capital Bogota, elections passed peacefully with few accounts visible irregularities from the various NGOs and UN institutions monitoring the poll. In fact, in parts of Bogota, there was an 85% voter turnout, a result far higher than elsewhere in the country.

However, vote-buying remains a popular method of collecting much needed support. There were reports of several parties bribing groups and monitoring the results of some tables to ensure they voted as they were paid to vote.

More:
https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/56593