Colombia: International observers provide election reports

Bogotá (AP) - The task of observing the elections of the European Union and the United States National Organization had logical difficulties, although the legislative and presidential primaries held in Colombia on Sunday were largely peaceful and the results were quickly dealt with by the registrar's office.

When I filed a report on the elections on Tuesday, I made recommendations to the authorities, including strengthening security in areas where violence persists.

EU observers “found many signs of buying votes and saw very few cases”, “in the departments with the largest number of vulnerable populations”, especially in the North and regions where seats for victims were selected.

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

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

Presidential candidate Gustavo Petro, the most voted candidate in the primary election, asked for a new vote count on Tuesday, warning election officials about fraud allegations at thousands of polling stations where voting in favor of “disappeared”.

Despite the government's efforts to reduce violence, the OAS Observer Mission continued to mention in its reports as “a worrying event for the development of the electoral process.” Based on data from the Colombian election observation mission, civil society non-governmental organizations warned that 516 acts of violence against political and social leaders were recorded, “an increase of 98.5% compared to what was seen at the beginning of the 2018 election.”

The OAS recommended that the state begin a plan to increase resources to protect candidates one year before the election and to protect candidates for victim-seat in areas where illegal groups are located.

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.

FARC, the oldest guerrilla in Latin America, gave up weapons, but 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.

The 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 curtailed. In addition, three presidential candidates were elected from three political blocks. The largest vote was left Petro, followed by Federico Gutierrez on the right, and the center of Sergio Fajardo.

Both the OAS and the European Union will conduct election supervision for the presidential election on May 29.