Loading…
Abelardo de la Espriella will rely on traditional parties to govern, despite his campaign promise to stay away from them. The political map shows the president-elect needs the support of established parties to pass his legislative agenda, and they know it.
Centro Democrático and Cambio Radical have already declared themselves government parties, contributing 17 and 6 senators respectively Source: El Colombiano. Their coalition with Alma strengthens that bloc. The Partido Conservador (11 senators) and Partido Liberal (13) are expected to join, though the Liberals are still negotiating cabinet positions and 'mermelada' (political patronage) Source: El Colombiano. Salvación Nacional (4 senators) is considered a confirmed ally as it was the party that ran De la Espriella's congressional list Source: Infobae. Partido de la U has not yet announced but discussions are advanced.
Pacto Histórico, with 25 senators and 39 representatives, will be the main opposition Source: Infobae. Alianza Verde is divided: some want to be opposition, others prefer independence Source: El Colombiano. The Mais (2 senators) and special peace seats (16 representatives) lean left, but their final positions are still unclear Source: Infobae.
Several parties are vying for the Senate presidency, to be elected on July 20. Candidates include Alfredo Deluque (Partido de la U), Andrés Forero (Centro Democrático), Enrique Gómez (Salvación Nacional), and possibly Lidio García (Partido Liberal) . The distribution of leadership positions for the four-year term is under negotiation, with an idea to rotate the presidency among Cambio Radical, Centro Democrático, Partido Liberal, and Partido Conservador .
“Aunque durante la campaña Abelardo de la Espriella insistió en que se mantendría lejos de los partidos tradicionales, el mapa político ya comienza a mostrar otra realidad: los necesita para que sus promesas se vuelvan hechos y ellos lo saben.”
“El presidente electo Abelardo De La Espriella llegaría al Congreso con mayorías iniciales para tramitar sus reformas desde el arranque de su mandato.”
“El Pacto Histórico, la fuerza política más numerosa del nuevo Congreso, será oposición y tendrá además a su favor la curules de Iván Cepeda en Senado y de Aida Quilcué en Cámara, que les otorga el Estatuto de la Oposición.”
“El primero que se mencionó fue el senador Alfredo Deluque, del Partido de la U, quien apoyó la aspiración presidencial de De La Espriella y se apartó del sector progresista de su colectividad.”