Colombia: Leftist candidate backtracks on accusation of irregularities

Iván Cepeda, government candidate for President of Colombia, backed down this Monday (1st) and denied that his team had evidence of major irregularities in the first round of elections, held on Sunday (31st).

"We have carried out the necessary checks. And so far, I have to say, because I am a serious and transparent person, we have not found at this moment facts of a dimension or depth that merit a statement about possible irregularities", he said in statements to the press.

Previously, the left-wing candidate had said that he would not speak about the electoral results before the body responsible for the process commented on an alleged discrepancy in the number of voters who went to the polls and what he described as "atypical votes" in some centers.

Although electoral polls position Cepeda as the favorite in the first round, the left-wing candidate was behind the ultra-rightist Abelardo de la Espriella.

The conservative candidate obtained 43.74% of the votes, against the 40.9% received by the government candidate.

Even before Cepeda's statement, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said he did not recognize the results, claiming that more than 800,000 people had been irregularly included in the electoral pattern in recent weeks.

In response, De la Espriella called on the country's security forces and the Army to act to defend the Constitution if Cepeda and Petro do not recognize the results.

"[I] call on the Public Force and the Homeland Army to activate the constitutional mechanism in the event that this criminal intends not to recognize the will of the Colombian people", said De La Espriella, about Petro.

Also addressing Cepeda, the conservative candidate threatened: "Don't you dare insist on not recognizing the results of the elections, because the people will rise up and punish you."

De la Espriella also asked the United States and other "democratic countries" to closely monitor the Colombian electoral process.

Source: CNN