By Luis Jaime Acosta
BOGOTA, June 7 (Reuters) – Right-wing lawyer Abelardo De La Espriella will face left-wing candidate Ivan Cepeda on June 21 in a presidential runoff in Colombia, after Cepeda on Sunday belatedly acknowledged his defeat in the first round of voting.
De La Espriella of the Defenders of the Homeland movement, who presents himself as a political “outsider”, won 43.7% of the votes, while Cepeda reached 40.9%, after the counting of all polling station ballots was completed.
Initially, Cepeda did not acknowledge the results, alleging a discrepancy in the voter registry and possible irregularities in more than 800,000 identity cards, but later said he had no evidence of irregularities.
The right-wing candidate made his attendance at a televised debate conditional on Cepeda, an ally of current President Gustavo Petro, acknowledging last week’s first-round results.
“In my capacity as presidential candidate for the Historic Pact and the Alliance for Life, I inform the public that, once the counting is finished, I acknowledge the results of the first round of the presidential election,” Cepeda said on his X account.
De La Espriella, nicknamed “The Tiger,” has focused his campaign on security, reducing the size of the state, and boosting the economy.
The 47-year-old has promised he will be “tough on crime”, tackling drug trafficking, illegal armed groups and building 10 megaprisons. He’s also said he will strengthen the armed forces.
Cepeda, a 63-year-old philosopher and congressman since 2010, whose father, a communist leader, was assassinated in 1994 in a paramilitary attack in Bogota, has pledged to expand the current government’s social programs to reduce poverty and inequality, and promote dialogue with illegal armed groups.
Surveys have suggested Cepeda will face an even tougher contest in the second round as right-leaning voters will no longer have multiple candidates to choose from.
The first round of voting saw a relatively low turnout of about 58%, figures from the country’s national registry office showed.
(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Stefanie Eschenbacher; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
