The new Colombian president will have to face problems such as ungovernability and the increase in violence

Challenges for a new legislature in Colombia

photo_camera AFP/GUILLERMO LEGARIA - Colombian House of Representatives during a session

Colombians will go to the polls on 29 May and 16 June in the second round to elect a new president. Approximately 39 million Colombians will be able to choose the person in charge of leading the country in a context in which Colombia is facing the greatest challenges in its history.

The new tenant of the Casa de Nariño, who will be sworn in on 7 August, faces major national challenges such as poverty, inflation, improving democratic governance, the environment, Venezuelan immigration and violence in the streets. According to constitutional lawyer Rodrigo Uprimny, there are seven major challenges that the future president will have to face in the next legislature, but not all of them are equally important: "The first challenge that the next president will face is democratic governance".

policia-colombia

The electoral campaign has reached very high levels of ideological polarisation, which suggests that if either of the two candidates on the left or right, Gustavo Petro or Federico Gutiérrez, wins the elections, the losing side will accuse the elections of "fraud". In addition to the political radicalisation and weaknesses of the Colombian electoral system, there is a third factor: the multiparty system. Although, in principle, the presence of several different parties is good for improving the democratic quality of a country and forces governments to rely on consensus, this feature can be problematic for countries like Colombia, which have a very personalist system. "The first task will be to build and achieve governance that respects democracy and the rule of law, because there is a risk that its failure could open the door to authoritarian temptations," says Uprimny.

A key point of the legislature: the Peace Accord

One of the greatest challenges facing the next Colombian president is the situation of the Peace Accord and the increase in paramilitary violence. According to Viviana García Pinzón, researcher at the Arnold Bergstraesser Institute, this situation has to do with the deterioration of national security due to the increase in violence by armed groups outside state control. According to the Colombian political scientist, "a security policy that is still stuck in what was the conflict with the FARC, and which only seeks to eliminate the ringleaders, does not resolve the problem", adding that this strategy "leads to more fragmentation and does not address the problems of the people on the ground".

manifestacion-bogota-colombia
Putting the military back in control

Colombia's police and armed forces have shown signs of being highly politicised and acting without state consent. As a result of this turn in the national security forces, there is talk of "human rights violations, and the murders of civilians in military and police operations, including minors", says Uprimny, adding that "the police are totally out of control, as demonstrated by the violent repression of the social unrest and the vociferous declarations of the army commander, Eduardo E. Zapateiro, against the opposition candidate, Gustavo Petro". Faced with this situation, the new tenant of the Casa de Nariño must define and implement a new security policy to confront organised crime and curb killings at the hands of the police and the army, two forces that are politicised and out of control.

violencia-colombia

To change the situation, the new government will have to finish implementing the Peace Accord, which is already partially functioning, but with "irreversible elements such as the system of truth, justice and reparation", explains Uprimny, who stresses that despite the difficulties, "the JEP is making progress and revealing or documenting atrocities by both the FARC and the security forces".

Coordinator for the Americas: José Antonio Sierra.
 

More in Politics