Columbian peace was negotiated by outgoing president “Juan Mauel Santos” and FARC leadership (communist rebels), which ended the 50 year civil war.
But the election of rightist Iván Duque as Colombia’s next President has raised concerns on the sustainability of the deal.
What is the changing political dynamics in Columbia?
The current election was the 1st since peace was negotiated with the FARC Marxist guerrillas in 2016.
The poll saw ‘Iván Duque’ (a political novice) beat ‘Gustavo Etro’ (an erstwhile insurgent), by a whopping 12% margin.
Mr. Duque’s victory will consolidate the conservatives further in the Congress, where the centrists led by current president ‘Santos’ are already weakened.
Duque’s economic agenda is also clearly rightist - he proposes to cut corporate taxes and promote a better investment climate in the oil sector.
He is a protégé of the former conservative President Álvaro Uribe, and is backed by Uribe’s “Democratic Centre party”.
Duque’s team and his backers are openly cynical of the peace deal and already decry the amnesty given to the rebels.
What are the challenges ahead?
There has been a steady marginalisation of centrist forces, leaving the field open to the extremists on both ends.
While the peace accord provided for FARC to contest elections, violent attacks on FARC candidates forced them to withdraw from the presidential race.
Subsequently, FARC also suspended its campaign for the congress, an action that is seen as a precursor to the total collapse of the deal.
It is also saddening that the judicial and other institutional mechanisms to advance the objectives of the deal are still not in place.
A return to the brutal and protracted civil war is to nobody’s favour, and hence policy makers need to show more rationality for sustained reconciliation.
In this tense political context, it is critical to appreciate the efforts of Mr. Santos who leaves behind a legacy of courage to advance a tough deal.
