Colombia’s hard-right president-elect, Abelardo de la Espriella, has failed to push through his choice to lead the new parliament that took office yesterday.
The vote to elect the Senate president took place late on Monday night, with the left-wing Pacto Histórico and the right-wing Centro Democratic Party forming a surprise coalition against La Espriella.
Analysts say the setback foreshadows the high legislative challenges the president-elect will face when he takes office Aug. 7.
At 3 p.m. Monday, Columbia’s new Congressional Caucus was officially launched, with 103 senators and 183 representatives starting their 2026-2030 terms.
Delaying the inauguration was a matter of who would lead the Senate. As the ruling and opposition parties failed to reach a backdoor agreement, the decision was made through a so-called clean vote in which individual lawmakers anonymously select candidates without being tied to factions.
De la Espriella’s choice, Alfredo Deluque, has been a senator since 2022 and a school friend of the president-elect. Victory was expected with the support of eight political parties representing 55 senators.
However, in a twist, Senator Onorio Henriques of the centrist Democratic Party was elected just before midnight with 56 votes in favor and 45 against. He received unanimous support from members of his own party and the Historic Pact, as well as several opposition parties affiliated with de la Espriella.
The president-elect’s selection of the National Assembly Speaker also did not receive support from the National Assembly members.
After losing the Senate leadership race, de la Espriella accepted the result and claimed it was a victory for democracy.
“It’s been more than 30 years since Senate leadership was freely elected with no backroom deals, and this strengthens our democracy,” the president-elect said in a video message posted this morning via X.
But analysts say Henriques’ victory portends legislative difficulties for the new head of state.
“It shows he doesn’t have all the cards in his hands, and if he wants to govern, he has to make concessions,” said Sergio Guzmán, director of Colombia Risk Analysis, a political risk consultancy.
In fact, de la Espriella’s winning percentage in the presidential runoff was less than 1%, highlighting the thinness of his approval ratings in a divided political environment.
He will face strong opposition from the Historic Pact, which holds the largest number of seats in parliament. In this election, de la Espriella’s opponent, Senator Ivan Cepeda, will take over as party leader.
Meanwhile, outgoing President Gustavo Petro, the country’s first left-wing leader, will assume the party’s chairmanship, a more administrative and internal role, cementing his position as a key figure in opposition to the next right-wing government.
division on the right
But crucially, yesterday’s events highlighted the opposition La Espriella faces from fellow right-wing lawmakers.
Next to the historic agreement in terms of parliamentary seats is the centrist Democratic Party led by former president and conservative leader Álvaro Uribe.
Uribe and the Democratic Center supported de la Espriella’s presidential bid after their candidate, Paloma Valencia, lost in the first round.
But by electing Henriquez to the Senate, Uribe’s party showed that it could not simply carry out de la Espriella’s orders.
“This marks an initial setback for the Abelardo de la Espiella administration and will hopefully mend its relations with the Democratic Center, which already feel somewhat strained or perhaps lacking proper communication channels,” said political strategist Miguel Jaramillo Luján.
Uribe even hinted there could be a power struggle between him and de la Espiela, saying last week he was worried the president-elect might try to destroy the democratic center.
“It’s okay for tigers to roar to defend their country. We are with them. But I am afraid that they will roar to end (our) party,” he said in an interview with radio station Caracol, referring to de la Espiella’s nickname. tiger.
Uribe added that his party would support de la Espriella as long as his proposals were consistent with the principles of Centro Democrático.
For the president-elect, yesterday’s contentious congressional session may foreshadow the limits of his power and the difficulties he faces in implementing his planned reforms.
“If he was thinking of running the country as if he won in a landslide, he would be surprised by the separation of the different branches of government and the independent checks on the president’s power,” Guzmán said.
This article originally appeared in The Bogotá Post and is republished with permission.
Featured image caption: Colombian Senate plenary room.
Featured image credit: Miguel Olaya via Flickr.
