Two candidates to face off in second round of Colombia’s presidential elections

BOGOTA: MAY. 30 – Gustavo Petro, presidential candidate from the Historic Pact for Colombia coalition, has won the first round of the Colombian presidential elections, the latest figures from the country’s National Registry showed on Sunday.

With 99.95 percent of the ballots counted, the progressive candidate received 8,526,466 votes, followed by Rodolfo Hernandez with 5,952,783.

Petro and Hernandez will face off in a second round of elections on June 19.

Alexander Vega, Colombia’s national registrar, confirmed that the results had been double verified and that the Registrar’s Office is prepared for the second round of elections.

“According to the trend, of course (there is a second-round) and we are going to prepare ourselves with the same guarantees, transparency, and security of the process,” Vega told reporters.

The official said that during the second round, international monitors would be present in the country.

-Xinhua