During a press conference broadcast live on his Instagram account this Monday, June 22, the presidential candidate of the Historic Pact, Iván Cepeda, spoke about the progress of the counting of votes in the second round of the presidential election, in which the difference between the two candidates is less than one percent.
Cepeda specified that, given this tight electoral margin, his campaign’s security team presented 57,189 complaints to electoral delegates, which must be resolved in detail at the departmental and national levels.
The presidential candidate emphasized that they are resorting to the powers of Colombian legislation with absolute rigor, calm and strict observance of constitutional norms: “We are resorting to what the law allows us to do, which is to calmly await the outcome of that moment in which, after all allegations have been verified and all doubts resolved, we will proceed, as happens in a democracy, to announce our recognition of the result.”
Cepeda also offered a detailed account of his team’s monitoring of the vote counting process in Colombia. The political leader explained that his delegates are overseeing the progress of the count as it progresses from municipal to departmental and national levels, while simultaneously awaiting the physical arrival of diplomatic bags containing ballots from abroad.
Cepeda emphasized that his technical team required that the verification be carried out physically, with the electoral elements in hand, and not just by reading the digital forms previously uploaded to the pre-counting platform.
“Our teams are participating in the counting of votes. The municipal counting ended last night and the departmental counting is starting now. We request that the international verification of the counting of votes be carried out in person”, stated the candidate.
He also explained that the results of the vote count will be known in the coming days and therefore urged the entire population to remain calm and patient while the legal verification of votes is completed. The current Constitution and electoral legislation will determine the legitimacy of the democratic process to officially elect the next president of Colombia.
“I want to make a very cordial appeal for serenity and calm, because if there are public demonstrations for or against this or that circumstance, they must be done strictly within the framework of tranquility and peaceful mobilization, if this type of mobilization occurs, which, I want to make clear, we are not encouraging,” he said.
Cepeda confirmed that his coalition will maintain a position of strict legal rigidity and constitutional respect until the more than 57 thousand complaints presented by its electoral inspectors are formally verified.
The candidate stated that only after all technical doubts have been resolved transparently in the corresponding bodies, will his movement proceed with the institutional recognition of the results.
Iván Cepeda also rejected statements made by far-right candidate Abelardo de la Espriella in Barranquilla, who urged President Gustavo Petro and the deputy himself to pack their bags and leave the country. “Mr. De la Espriella told President Petro and me to pack our bags. We’re not leaving here. Then he said that the tiger bites hard and can bite even harder. That doesn’t scare us,” the popular leader firmly retorted, rejecting attempts to intimidate the social movement.
Along the same lines, Cepeda stated that they will not accept intimidation and reiterated his movement’s commitment to political dialogue and public tranquility.
The parliamentarian emphasized that the Historic Pact represents half of Colombia politically, having a solid history of popular mobilization that has historically defeated authoritarian governments and violent politicians. Faced with provocations from elites, the representative of social change reiterated the progressive movement’s commitment to achieving a broad national dialogue.
The senator warned that, in a deeply polarized territory, it is impossible to impose ideas by force and, therefore, defended peaceful debate and mutual respect. Finally, the leader stated that popular forces will not tolerate humiliation, shouting or authoritarian impositions resulting from oligarchic arrogance, always acting within the parameters of the Constitution of the Republic. “We are in a democratic country, and the essential thing here is dialogue and debate within the framework of the Constitution and democracy”, he concluded.
With this statement, he reaffirmed that the electoral support obtained by his coalition represents a decisive political force in Colombia, which will defend institutional legality until the last vote is verified.
In turn, the National Electoral Council of Colombia informed that the public hearing for the counting of votes in the second round of the election for President and Vice-President of the Republic will resume this Tuesday (23).
In this institutional space, the National Supervisory Commission will continue the technical procedure of verification, review and consolidation of the final electoral results that will determine the head of State for the constitutional period of 2026-2030.
The highest electoral authority emphasized that the development of this legal activity is carried out in strict accordance with the principles of legality, transparency, traceability and due process, guaranteeing full conditions of participation for all actors, witnesses and political groups involved in the dispute.
The counting of votes will take place at the Corferias venue, specifically in Pavilion 1, second floor, in the city of Bogotá, and will officially begin at nine in the morning.
Source: www.brasildefato.com.br
