 | You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Spanish. (November 2017) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
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| Turnout | 53.40% (first round)  13.30pp 53.11% (second round) 5.14pp | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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  Iván Duque Gustavo Petro Sergio Fajardo | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Politics of Colombia |
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Presidential elections were held in Colombia on 27 May 2018.[1] As no candidate received a majority of the vote, the second round of voting was held on 17 June.[2] Incumbent president Juan Manuel Santos was ineligible to seek a third term. Iván Duque, a senator, defeated Gustavo Petro, former mayor of Bogotá, in the second round. Duque's victory made him one of the youngest individuals elected to the presidency, aged 42. His running mate, Marta Lucía Ramírez, was the first woman elected to the vice presidency in Colombian history.[3]
The election was held following a peace agreement between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in 2016, ending over 50 years of conflict.[4] The elections were the first to occur since congress passed legislation in 2015 modifying the presidential term limits, restricting presidents to one four-year term with a formal ban on re-election. The bill also granted the runner-up candidate in a presidential election a seat in the senate, whilst their running mate would become a member of the chamber of representatives.[5]
Duque, a lawyer and protege of former president Álvaro Uribe, was the nominee for the Democratic Center party. Duque, who was mostly unknown to the public before the election,[3] had a platform encompassing support for innovation, economic recovery and staunch opposition to the peace agreement.[5]
Petro, a former AD/M-19 member and nominee for the Humane Colombia party, ran a progressive populist campaign that focused on reducing inequality and implementing universal healthcare and environmental protection. Petro narrowly surpassed centrist candidate Sergio Fajardo in the first round by just over 1%, permitting him to qualify for the run-off.[6]
Duque was victorious in the second round, earning 54% of the vote to Petro's 41%.[4] Duque won 24 of Colombia's 32 departments, performed well in the inland regions and received over 77% of the vote in the Andean department of Norte de Santander.[7] Duque assumed office on 7 August.[8] Meanwhile, Petro became a senator, and later the future president of Colombia, whilst his running mate, Ángela Robledo, became a member of the chamber of representatives.[9][10]
- ^ Resolution No 5552 Archived 2017-06-06 at the Wayback Machine National Civil Registry (Colombia)
- ^ Sonneland, Holly (28 June 2017). "Explainer: Colombia's 2018 Elections". As/Coa. Archived from the original on 15 August 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
- ^ a b Casey, Nicholas; Abad, Susan (17 June 2018). "Colombia Elects Iván Duque, Populist Conservative, as President". New York Times. Bogotá. Archived from the original on 18 June 2018. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
- ^ a b Joe Parkin Daniels (17 June 2018). "Iván Duque wins election to become Colombia's president". The Guardian. Bogotá. Archived from the original on 18 June 2018. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
- ^ a b "Colombia's 2018 elections" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. 12 July 2018. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
- ^ Isabel Perñaranda (17 June 2018). "Gustavo Petro's Dream". Jacobin. Archived from the original on 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
- ^ "Presidential Election of May-June 2018". Psephos. Archived from the original on 25 November 2019. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
- ^ "Iván Duque: Colombia's new president sworn into office". BBC News World Latin America. 8 September 2018. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
- ^ "Meet Gustavo Petro, Colombian Former Guerrilla & Leftist Who Mounted Historic Campaign for Presidency". Democracy Now. 10 August 2018. Archived from the original on 22 April 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
- ^ "Corte Constitucional tumbó la curul de Ángela María Robledo". La FM (in Spanish). 1 July 2021. Archived from the original on 11 July 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2022.