Bogota, Colombia – Left-wing candidate Ivan Cepeda accepted defeat this morning following Sunday’s Colombian presidential election, paving the way for far-right populist Abelardo de la Espriella to take power on August 7.
Senator Cepeda previously said he would wait for the final, legally verified vote tally. scrutiny Or, they accepted the results upon closer inspection, but suggested that it was clear today that the preliminary count was legitimate.
“The vote verification process conducted by the election authorities is substantially complete,” Cepeda said in a public address Wednesday morning. “I have decided to accept the outcome of this process, declaring Abelardo de la Espriella as the new President of the Republic.”
Sunday’s preliminary tally showed de la Espriella winning 49.66% of the vote, compared to Cepeda’s 48.70%, a margin of about 250,000 votes. Cepeda acknowledged the results were legal but said he would wait for the final results before conceding.
Yesterday, the National Registry announced that a preliminary count survey at the municipality level had been completed and that Sunday’s count was 99.997% accurate. However, it may take another day or two as verification procedures must now be finalized at the departmental and national levels.
Nonetheless, Cepeda acknowledged the narrow loss to the right-wing candidate, describing the scrutiny on Wednesday as “substantially complete.”
“We will be a democratic, vigilant and constructive opposition, but we will be a resolute and unwavering opposition in defending the rights of the people,” Cepeda said.
A candidate has the right to hold a seat in the Senate and to lead his or her historical party in the opposition party.
But President Gustavo Petro, the current leader of the historical convention, has yet to acknowledge his party’s defeat.
The president has previously said he would respect verified vote counts, but continues to question the integrity of the democratic process. Yesterday he claimed Washington’s interference in the election had “nullified” the results.
But instead of following Petro down the path of war, Cepeda stuck to a conciliatory tone today.
“I am doing this to fulfill my democratic responsibility. I am doing this to contribute to harmony, peace and dialogue among Colombians.”
Featured image caption: Cepeda giving his concession speech on Wednesday, June 24.
Featured image credit: Ivan Cepeda Castro.
