Sergio Fajardo excludes participating in a consultation with other presidential candidates

Sergio Fajardo, the former mayor of Medellín who aspires for the third consecutive time to the presidency of Colombia, has definitively closed the door to a consultation with other candidates from the political center, or from any other sector, and will run alone until the first round on May 31. this Monday in the message in which he announced his decision. In this context, underlines the former mayor, “consultations are not the right solution: they end up benefiting the extremes, they divide the country against each other and the center is strangled. It loses. The real challenge is to know who can add and unite a new majority for the future”, he concludes.

In the campaign to replace left-wing President Gustavo Petro, very dense and fragmented, with several dozen candidates, the different political forces have the opportunity to participate in an interparty consultation, which coincides with the congressional elections on March 8. It is a possibility that Fajardo has excluded this Monday, a public holiday in Colombia and the last day of the deadline to formally announce to the Registry the intention to use this mechanism.

Six months before the first round, the former mayor of Medellín and former governor of Antioquia comes in third position in the polls. In the latest measurement from the Invamer company, left-wing senator Iván Cépeda comes out on top with 31.9% of voting intentions, followed by the far-right Abelardo De la Espriella with 18.2%, then Fajardo with 8.5%. In the scenarios of a possible second round, Cepeda far exceeds De la Espriella (59.1% against 36.2%), while Fajardo narrowly beats him (48.9% against 46.4%). And if the second round took place between Fajardo and De la Espriella, the former mayor would have 51.7% and the criminal lawyer 38.9%.

“The great danger is to remain locked in this polarization,” continued Fajardo, the best-placed representative of the center, very critical of President Petro but who also declared that he had nothing in common with De la Espriella. “This is the terrain preferred by the extremes, because it divides the country into two enemy camps and increases the confrontation. The complete opposite of what Colombia needs today: a pragmatic policy, which looks to the future, resolves the accumulated problems and has the capacity to unite us. A policy which understands, recognizes and knows how to move forward in the solution of the deep inequalities between the peoples and regions of our country, which has the capacity to guarantee the security which is today demanded with anguish in all corners of Colombia and which has shown that corruption can be defeated and a civic culture for healthy coexistence can be built,” he added, invoking some of his best-known flags.

In his diagnosis, the current situation in Colombia “requires a government that represents not only the people of the so-called center, but also the moderate people from left to right who want solutions based on basic agreements and consensus, gathered around a new story for the future.” He appeals to what he calls a “new majority” and abandons an alliance like the one he led four years ago, the failure of the Hope Center Coalition, marked by numerous disagreements.

“I respect the people with whom I am united by many points of view and who will participate in the consultations,” he adds without mentioning his own name. Former Bogotá mayor Claudia López, another candidate from the center, is one of a handful of candidates who have already expressed their intention to participate in a consultation. “Everyone has their interests and it is legitimate to seek them. However, I believe that there are other alternatives to promote unity. The road is long and I hope that it will be possible to regroup around the force, the team and the person who can win in the second round at any extreme. The one who can win, adding sensible and moderate people from all sides, to the radicals Cepeda and De la Espriella”, adds the mathematician who governed both Medellín and Antioquia. His strategy is to consolidate the idea that this is the most competitive name in a runoff.