President Ivan Duque and Colombia’s Agenda for 2018-2022
On Sunday, June 17, Colombia celebrated the final round of its presidential election. With approximately 54% of the votes, Ivan Duque of the Democratic Center party was elected president and his running mate Marta Lucia Ramirez of the Conservative party was elected as Colombia’s first female vice-president. They defeated leftist candidate Gustavo Petro, who secured some 42% of the votes, while another 4% of the votes cast were left blank. This outcome, which was much anticipated and foreseen since the first electoral round a few weeks ago, gives the Democratic Center party a vast governing authority over both the executive and the legislative branches of government until at least 2022. Even though the Democratic Center party, led by former President and current Senator Alvaro Uribe, does not have an outright majority in the Colombian Congress, a center-right governing coalition is likely to form around President Duque’s agenda.
President Ivan Duque and Colombia’s Agenda for 2018-2022
Before his election to the presidency, Ivan Duque, who is 41 years old, had worked for previous administrations in Colombia as well as the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington DC and the United Nations in New York City. It was during Duque’s time as a civil servant that he was taken under the wing of his current mentor, former President and current Senator Alvaro Uribe. Back in 2014, Ivan Duque had his first test in a general election, when he was elected Senator alongside former President Uribe. Since then, Ivan Duque has risen to national prominence as a leading political figure. One of his key campaign promises has been revising the Peace Accords with the FARC in order to ensure that proper justice is served and that former guerrillas do not return to criminal activities. Likewise, President elect Duque seeks to strengthen the national economy by empowering private enterprise, promoting Colombia as a safe destination for foreign investment, and opening up to development in previously inaccessible regions of the country.
The election of Ivan Duque is expected to boost foreign investment into Colombia in the near term given his pro-business policies and the legal security that his party supports for private capital. This is particularly true when compared to the agenda of runner-up Gustavo Petro, some of whose discourse and policy proposals struck fear into both domestic and multinational companies. Nevertheless, Ivan Duque will inherit some challenges as he assumes the presidency on August 7. President Duque will have to secure the important advances made by current President Juan Manuel Santos towards a more peaceful country and he will also have to reconcile a deeply polarized society. Meanwhile, on the political horizon, candidate Gustavo Petro will remain an important figure during the coming years and, according to Colombia’s constitution, he will take up a seat as head of opposition in the Senate.
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