Colombia's ruling party to be top force in Senate, but without majority

BOGOTA, March 9 - Colombia's ruling party, the left-leaning Historic Pact, emerged from Sunday's elections as the strongest political force in the incoming Senate, analysts said on Monday, although its failure to secure an absolute majority means it will need to form coalitions and may struggle if Colombia's divided right wing wins the presidency.

The party, which brought President Gustavo Petro to power in 2022, won 25 out of 102 Senate seats in Sunday's legislative elections, according to official results. Finishing second was the right-wing Democratic Center, led by former President Alvaro Uribe, with 17 seats.

The two forces will likely jostle to make deals with other parties in the fragmented Senate, which include Colombia's Liberal Party with 13 seats, the Green Alliance with 10, the Conservative Party with 10, La U with nine, and Radical Change with seven. Eleven other seats were distributed among various smaller parties.

In the House of Representatives, results from the electoral authority show the opposition Democratic Center leading with 32 out of 182 seats, followed by the Liberal Party with 31, and the Historic Pact with 29. The Conservative Party obtained 18 seats, Radical Change 13, and the Green Alliance 7.

Ivan Cepeda, Historic Pact's presidential candidate in May's presidential election, described the legislative election results as a "categorical victory," saying his party had become the primary political force in Congress.

However, analysts suggest that if Cepeda loses the presidential election to right-wing candidates Paloma Valencia or Abelardo De La Espriella, his party will become the main opposition force.

Ariel Avila, a re-elected senator from the Green Alliance, believes that Colombia's next president, whether from the right or the left, will have a tough time getting things done, predicting a "vetocracy" where lawmakers block parties simply because they come from the opposing side.

"It is a very fragmented Congress and it is difficult to mend," Avila said. REUTERS