Colombia's president rejects preliminary results of presidential election
Outgoing Colombian President Gustavo Petro has rejected the preliminary results of the first round of the presidential election held on May 31, 2026.
He confirmed through a post on the X platform that the initial screening operations are "not binding", calling for waiting for the final results that will be issued after the audit committees are audited and subjected to judicial procedures.
In 2022, Colombian leftist candidate Gustavo Petro won the second round of the presidential election, becoming the country's 60th president.
Petro beat his rival, independent candidate Rodolfo Hernández, who received 47.28 percent of the vote, to become Colombia's first leftist president.
Colombia's constitution prohibits the president from running for a second consecutive term, so incumbent President Gustavo Petro is not eligible to run in the 2026 elections, regardless of his popularity or political desire to continue.
First Round Results
Preliminary results showed that after more than 99% of the votes were counted, the hard-right candidate Abelardo de la Esperia was ahead with 43.74%, while the candidate of the ruling leftist alliance, Ivan Cepeda, came second with 40.90%.
These figures point to a very close electoral race, reflecting the deep division between the country's right-wing and left-wing currents.
Colombia is heading to a crucial runoff on June 21, 2026, between de la Esperia and Cepeda because no candidate has an absolute majority (50%), with political circles expecting the second round to be the most polarized in decades, with tense rhetoric and accusations between the two camps escalating.
Reasons to doubt the results
Petro has raised long-standing concerns about the functioning of the technological and logistical infrastructure run by private companies operating the electoral system, led by Thomas Greg & Sons, as his allies have pointed to electoral discrepancies and atypical votes in a number of polling stations, considering that these indicators need to be verified before any preliminary results are adopted.
Petro's remarks sparked widespread criticism from opposition forces, with former President Iván Duque accusing him of trying to "bypass democracy and usurp the will of the majority."
Former ministers have also considered his position a threat to the rules of the democratic game and reflects a lack of acceptance of the principle of losing, warning that preemptive questioning of the results could open the door to political turmoil.
La Isperia is close to Trump's approach
Abelardo de la Esperia stands out as one of the most present right-wing figures on the Colombian scene, having topped the first round of the May 31, 2026 elections as a representative of the conservative current.
He comes from a strong legal background as a prominent criminal lawyer, before moving into politics with an aggressive rhetoric and populist charisma that attracted groups resentful of the security and economic deterioration.
De La Esperia adopts a hard-right approach based on strict security, rejecting peace negotiations with armed movements, and pushing for a free-market economy based on lowering taxes and attracting investment, but his most prominent distinction is his apparent closeness to U.S. President Donald Trump, as he puts forward a program that identifies with Trump's rhetoric on security and the economy, and calls for a closer alliance with Washington as Colombia's number one strategic partner.
This conservative orientation won him broad support from the church and rural communities, and cemented his image as a rising right-wing candidate seeking to reshape Colombian politics in the footsteps of the conservative American model.