Colombia: International observers provide election reports

Bogotá (AP) - The electoral observation mission of the national organization of the European Union and the United States said on Sunday that the legislative and presidential primaries held in Colombia were largely peaceful and the results were processed quickly, but there were logical difficulties in the Registrar's Office.

When I filed a report on the election on Tuesday, I gave recommendations to the authorities, including greater security in areas where violence persists.

EU observers “found many signs of buying votes and saw few cases” in the “departments with the largest vulnerable population”, in particular, in the north and areas where seats for victims were selected.

On Sunday, 16 MPs were elected for the first time in the history of the country, according to one of the points agreed in the peace process signed between the state and the extinct revolutionary forces five years ago, representing more than 8 million victims of the armed conflict in Colombia (FARC).

The Prosecutor's Office reported that 26 people were arrested for corruption of election crimes such as suffrage, fraudulent voting and impersonation. In addition, during Election Day, 131 reports of probable electoral crimes were received for investigation.

Presidential candidate Gustavo Petro, the most voted candidate during the primary elections, asked for a new vote count on Tuesday when he warned electoral officials of fraud allegations at thousands of polling stations where his favorable vote “disappeared. ”

The OAS Observer Mission continued to mention in its report that, despite the government's efforts to reduce violence, it was a “worrying event for the development of the electoral process”. Based on data from the Colombian Election Observation Mission, a civil society non-governmental organization warned that 516 acts of violence against political and social leaders had been recorded, “an increase of 98.5% compared to what was seen at the beginning of the 2018 elections. ”

The OAS recommended that the state launch a plan to protect candidates one year before the election and to increase resources to protect victim-seat candidates in areas with illegal groups.

The European Union noted that although freedom of expression and freedom of speech were generally respected, it received information about self-censorship and blackmail by local journalists.

Although FARC, the oldest guerrilla in Latin America, gave up arms, the violence in the country did not stop. Many armed groups remain, such as the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas, FARC dissidents who abandoned the peace process, and the Gulf clans dedicated to drug trafficking.

Colombians elected 108 senators and 187 representatives from the House of Representatives. The left, led by Petro, received unprecedented representation, remained a traditional political party, and the ruling Democratic Center was reduced. In addition, three presidential candidates were elected from three political blocks. The biggest vote was won by the leftist Petro, followed by Federico Gutierrez on the right, followed by the center of Sergio Fajardo.

Both the OAS and the European Union will hold election supervision for the presidential election to be held on 29 May.