For the first time in the country's history, the left is playing a representative role in Congress

For the first time in the country's electoral history, the Historical Pact, a left-facing party, stood with 16 seats alongside the traditional conservative parties with 16 and the liberal bench with 15, as the largest seats within the country's Senate.

Similarly, as an unprecedented event, it placed itself ahead of alternative forces such as the Centro Esperanza Coalition, which includes parties such as the Green Alliance with 14 seats, and even more surprisingly, a left-wing force was ahead of the once ubiquitous Democratic Center party, which eventually won 13 seats. A very strong blow to a party that has been diminished in the last election results.

Similarly, in the House of Representatives, the Historical Pact ranked as the second largest bench behind the liberal party with 25 seats, the same ones won by the Conservative Party.

The emergence of the left as an important actor in the transit of the country's legislative initiatives will give a new orientation and open the door to negotiation within the different benches becoming the norm within the next four years.

Having not achieved a definitive and absolute majority, none of the political parties present in Congress is able to be a definitive and defining force within legislative management. Then, negotiation and alliances will become a fundamental part of the course of legislatures in the coming years, both in the House of Representatives and in the Senate.

But it is interesting to see how the traditional parties, Liberal and Conservative, were not hit as hard as the Democratic Center. On the contrary, they were strengthened and won a significant, although not defining, number of seats. This makes them key players for the coming years and will reveal the ability of the Historical Pact to negotiate to achieve alliances that will ensure the transit of their initiatives in the next four-year period.

Perhaps, the fact that attracted the most attention, apart from the achievement of the Historical Pact, were the results shown by the formerly almighty Democratic Center. That with 13 seats in the Senate and 16 in the House, it is still a force to be reckoned with in the management of the legislative initiatives of Congress, but it is a far cry from being the steamer that was once in past electoral contests.

The results of the current Government's administration, coupled with the natural erosion of 20 years of continuous exposure to public opinion, and the lack of proposals for renewal and adaptation to the current juncture of its traditional lines of political struggle, have led to an attrition that has become evident in these elections and in the popularity ratings shown in the various surveys conducted in the country.

The results shown on election day yesterday show a light, although still small, that allows us to see that new and interesting changes are coming within the management of legislative initiatives in the next four years, and shows that ideas of renewal and entry of new forces into the national political landscape, revitalizes and strengthens the democratic game. Let's hope that the new results will come with new proposals that bring new energy to the sometimes tired Colombian political game.

Analysis by Gabriel Clavijo Martín, political scientist specializing in Public Management, Mg. Political and International Studies and university professor.

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