Colombian presidential election, 2010
Encyclopedia
The Colombian presidential election of 2010 took place under a two-round system
, with an initial vote held on May 30 and a second poll held three weeks later on June 20. A referendum proposal that would have allowed incumbent President
Álvaro Uribe
the opportunity to run for a third term was rejected by the Constitutional Court of Colombia
in a 7–2 ruling on February 26, 2010. Because no candidate received a majority (more than one-half) of the votes cast in the May 30 poll, the candidates with the two highest vote totals, Juan Manuel Santos
and Antanas Mockus
, competed in a runoff election on June 20.
party was elected president with 53.1 per cent of the vote, breaking the two-party system that ruled the country since 1958, with the promise of ending the armed conflict that haunts the country since 1964 by strengthening the Armed Forces. In 2006, he managed to change the Constitution in order to run for a second consecutive term. After a practically mute campaign, Uribe won the election with 62.2 per cent of the vote, followed by Carlos Gaviria of the Alternative Democratic Pole
with a distant 22 per cent.
In 2007, Luis Guillermo Giraldo, leader of the pro-Uribe Party of the U, announced he would create the "promoters' committee", a group charged with gathering signatures to call a referendum on whether Uribe should be allowed to run for a third term in office. In September 2009, Congress approved the referendum bill in a late-night voting boycotted by members of the opposition. On February 26, 2010, the Constitutional Court voted against the referendum bill. Immediately after the ruling, former defence minister Juan Manuel Santos
confirmed that he would become a presidential candidate. Another Uribist
candidate was Germán Vargas Lleras
of the Radical Change
party. Former Colombian ambassador to the United Kingdom, Noemí Sanín
, and former agriculture minister Andrés Felipe Arias, two of the closest Uribe allies, were seeking nomination by the Conservative Party
. Sanín was nominated.
and Gustavo Petro
of the Alternative Democratic Pole. Álvaro Leyva Durán, a Uribe opponent, was seeking the presidential nomination by the Conservative Party.
On October 2, 2009, the Green Party
was officially created. It nominated its presidential candidate on a primary ballot that took place on March 14, 2010, the same day as the legislative election. The contenders were three former Bogotá
mayors: Enrique Peñalosa
, Antanas Mockus
, and Luis Eduardo Garzón. The Greens seek to be a moderate force in what they called "a polarized" political situation, calling themselves "Post-Uribists." Mockus was chosen as their candidate. Former Medellín
mayor Sergio Fajardo
joined him as his running mate on 2010, after missing the requirements to become a presidential candidate himself.
Santos achieved a landslide victory, with 69 per cent of the votes. Mockus got 27.51 per cent of votes. This was the largest margin of victory for a president in the democratic period of Colombia's history. Santos won 32 of the country's 33 electoral districts. His allies have an overwhelming majority in the Colombian Congress. Santos vowed to continue his predecessor's hardline stance against the country's Marxist rebels. He paraphrased Isaac Newton
– "If we have come far it's because we are standing on the shoulders of giants" – and said he would rid Colombia of what he described as the "nightmare of violence".
The United States State Department
said it was "pleased" with the election of Santos and praised the "spirited debate" before the runoff and Colombia's "longstanding commitment to democratic principles".
Two-round system
The two-round system is a voting system used to elect a single winner where the voter casts a single vote for their chosen candidate...
, with an initial vote held on May 30 and a second poll held three weeks later on June 20. A referendum proposal that would have allowed incumbent President
President of Colombia
The President of Colombia is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Colombia. The office of president was established upon the ratification of the Constitution of 1819, by the Congress of Angostura, convened in December 1819, when Colombia was part of "la Gran Colombia"...
Álvaro Uribe
Álvaro Uribe
Alvaro Uribe Vélez was the 58th President of Colombia, from 2002 to 2010. In August 2010 he was appointed Vice-chairman of the UN panel investigating the Gaza flotilla raid....
the opportunity to run for a third term was rejected by the Constitutional Court of Colombia
Constitutional Court of Colombia
The Constitutional Court of Colombia is the highest entity in the judicial branch of government in the Republic of Colombia in charge of safeguarding the integrity and supremacy of the Colombian Constitution of 1991 within the Constitutional laws.However it is not the highest court of criminal...
in a 7–2 ruling on February 26, 2010. Because no candidate received a majority (more than one-half) of the votes cast in the May 30 poll, the candidates with the two highest vote totals, Juan Manuel Santos
Juan Manuel Santos
Juan Manuel Santos Calderón is a Colombian politician who has been the President of Colombia since 7 August 2010. He previously served as Minister of Foreign Trade, Minister of Finance, and Minister of National Defense.-Career:...
and Antanas Mockus
Antanas Mockus
Aurelijus Rutenis Antanas Mockus Šivickas is a Colombian mathematician, philosopher, and politician.The son of Lithuanian immigrants, he left his post as the president of the National University of Colombia in Bogotá in 1993, and later that year ran a successful campaign for mayor...
, competed in a runoff election on June 20.
Government group
In 2002, Álvaro Uribe of the Colombia FirstColombia First
Colombia First is a political movement in Colombia that supported the candidacy of Álvaro Uribe in the 2002 and 2006 presidential elections.-External links:* Foundation...
party was elected president with 53.1 per cent of the vote, breaking the two-party system that ruled the country since 1958, with the promise of ending the armed conflict that haunts the country since 1964 by strengthening the Armed Forces. In 2006, he managed to change the Constitution in order to run for a second consecutive term. After a practically mute campaign, Uribe won the election with 62.2 per cent of the vote, followed by Carlos Gaviria of the Alternative Democratic Pole
Alternative Democratic Pole
The Alternative Democratic Pole is a political alliance in Colombia, formed by the Independent Democratic Pole and the Democratic Alternative in December 2005...
with a distant 22 per cent.
In 2007, Luis Guillermo Giraldo, leader of the pro-Uribe Party of the U, announced he would create the "promoters' committee", a group charged with gathering signatures to call a referendum on whether Uribe should be allowed to run for a third term in office. In September 2009, Congress approved the referendum bill in a late-night voting boycotted by members of the opposition. On February 26, 2010, the Constitutional Court voted against the referendum bill. Immediately after the ruling, former defence minister Juan Manuel Santos
Juan Manuel Santos
Juan Manuel Santos Calderón is a Colombian politician who has been the President of Colombia since 7 August 2010. He previously served as Minister of Foreign Trade, Minister of Finance, and Minister of National Defense.-Career:...
confirmed that he would become a presidential candidate. Another Uribist
Uribism
Uribism is the right-wing political ideology based on the ideology and government of former president of Colombia, Álvaro Uribe. It supports mainly the democratic security politics of Uribe.- Background :...
candidate was Germán Vargas Lleras
Germán Vargas Lleras
Germán Vargas Lleras is a Colombian lawyer and politician currently serving as Minister of the Interior of Colombia. From 1994 to 2008 he served as Senator of Colombia for four consecutive terms, and during the Colombian presidential election of 2010 he ran as a candidate for the Radical Change...
of the Radical Change
Radical Change
Radical Change is a conservative liberal political party in Colombia.At the last legislative elections in Colombia on March 12, 2006, the party became one of the most important in the new congress, receiving 15 seats in the lower house and 20 in the upper house...
party. Former Colombian ambassador to the United Kingdom, Noemí Sanín
Noemí Sanín
Marta Noemí del Espíritu Santo Sanín Posada is a Colombian lawyer and politician, twice Ambassador of Colombia to the United Kingdom, as well as Ambassador to Spain and Venezuela...
, and former agriculture minister Andrés Felipe Arias, two of the closest Uribe allies, were seeking nomination by the Conservative Party
Colombian Conservative Party
The Colombian Conservative Party , is a conservative political party in Colombia. The party was unofficially founded by a group of Revolutionary Commoners during the Revolutionary War for Independence from the Spanish Monarchy and later formally established during the Greater Colombia...
. Sanín was nominated.
Opposition group
Two of the opposition candidates were Rafael Pardo of the Liberal PartyColombian Liberal Party
The Colombian Liberal Party is a center-left party in Colombia that adheres to social democracy and social liberalism.The Party was founded in 1848 and, together with the Colombian Conservative Party, subsequently became one of the two main political forces in the country for over a century.After...
and Gustavo Petro
Gustavo Petro
Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego is a Colombian politician of the Political Independent movement Progresistas . As a young man he fought with the 19th of April Movement, which later evolved into the Alianza Democrática M-19. He then became active in newly-established Alianza Democrática M-19...
of the Alternative Democratic Pole. Álvaro Leyva Durán, a Uribe opponent, was seeking the presidential nomination by the Conservative Party.
On October 2, 2009, the Green Party
Green Party of Colombia Option Center
Colombian Green Party is a Colombian political party associated with the philosophies of the Green party as well as the "political middle". The party advocates for having an ecological conscience, social justice, participative democracy, non violence resolutions, human sustainability and respect...
was officially created. It nominated its presidential candidate on a primary ballot that took place on March 14, 2010, the same day as the legislative election. The contenders were three former Bogotá
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
mayors: Enrique Peñalosa
Enrique Peñalosa
Enrique Peñalosa Londoño is a Colombian politician and New Urbanist. He was mayor of Bogotá, from 1998 until 2001, and was runner-up in 2007. He is running in 2011 for mayor as the Green Party candidate. He has also worked as a journalist and consultant on urban and transportation policy...
, Antanas Mockus
Antanas Mockus
Aurelijus Rutenis Antanas Mockus Šivickas is a Colombian mathematician, philosopher, and politician.The son of Lithuanian immigrants, he left his post as the president of the National University of Colombia in Bogotá in 1993, and later that year ran a successful campaign for mayor...
, and Luis Eduardo Garzón. The Greens seek to be a moderate force in what they called "a polarized" political situation, calling themselves "Post-Uribists." Mockus was chosen as their candidate. Former Medellín
Medellín
Medellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.3 million...
mayor Sergio Fajardo
Sergio Fajardo
Sergio Fajardo Valderrama, a mathematician from University of the Andes, Colombia turned politician, was the mayor of Medellín from 2003 to 2007. He ran as an independent. Fajardo was granted a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
joined him as his running mate on 2010, after missing the requirements to become a presidential candidate himself.
First Round
| Date | Institute | Candidate | Undecided (Ns/Nr) V. None |
Source | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rafael Pardo | Gustavo Petro Gustavo Petro Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego is a Colombian politician of the Political Independent movement Progresistas . As a young man he fought with the 19th of April Movement, which later evolved into the Alianza Democrática M-19. He then became active in newly-established Alianza Democrática M-19... |
Germán Vargas Lleras Germán Vargas Lleras Germán Vargas Lleras is a Colombian lawyer and politician currently serving as Minister of the Interior of Colombia. From 1994 to 2008 he served as Senator of Colombia for four consecutive terms, and during the Colombian presidential election of 2010 he ran as a candidate for the Radical Change... |
Sergio Fajardo Sergio Fajardo Sergio Fajardo Valderrama, a mathematician from University of the Andes, Colombia turned politician, was the mayor of Medellín from 2003 to 2007. He ran as an independent. Fajardo was granted a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.... |
Juan Manuel Santos Juan Manuel Santos Juan Manuel Santos Calderón is a Colombian politician who has been the President of Colombia since 7 August 2010. He previously served as Minister of Foreign Trade, Minister of Finance, and Minister of National Defense.-Career:... |
Antanas Mockus Antanas Mockus Aurelijus Rutenis Antanas Mockus Šivickas is a Colombian mathematician, philosopher, and politician.The son of Lithuanian immigrants, he left his post as the president of the National University of Colombia in Bogotá in 1993, and later that year ran a successful campaign for mayor... |
Noemí Sanín Noemí Sanín Marta Noemí del Espíritu Santo Sanín Posada is a Colombian lawyer and politician, twice Ambassador of Colombia to the United Kingdom, as well as Ambassador to Spain and Venezuela... |
Róbinson Devia | Jaime Araújo | Jairo Calderón | ||||
| March 24, 2010 | Invamer Gallup | 5.1% | 6.3% | 6.2% | 6.1% | 34.2% | 10.4% | 23.3% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 8.4% | |
| March 26, 2010 | Datexco | 5.5% | 7.1% | 6.6% | 4.4% | 34.1% | 8.9% | 21.7% | 0% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 11.4% | |
| March 27, 2010 | Ipsos Napoleón Franco | 4% | 6% | 8% | 5% | 36% | 9% | 17% | 1% | 0% | 0% | 14% | |
| March 27, 2010 | Centro Nacional de Consultoría | 3.4% | 3.6% | 6.5% | 3.6% | 28.6% | 11.3% | 21.9% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 21.1% | |
| April 8, 2010 | Centro Nacional de Consultoría | 5% | 6% | 3% | - | 37% | 22% | 20% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 7% | |
| April 9, 2010 | Datexco | 5.2% | 3.1% | 3% | - | 29.5% | 24.8% | 16.4% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 17.2% | |
| April 15, 2010 | Centro Nacional de Consultoría | 4% | 4% | 2% | - | 36% | 29% | 19% | 0% | 1% | 0% | 5% | |
| April 16, 2010 | Ipsos Napoleón Franco | 5% | 4% | 3% | - | 30% | 20% | 12% | 1% | 5% | 5% | 15% | |
| April 22, 2010 | Centro Nacional de Consultoría | 5% | 5% | 4% | - | 35% | 34% | 12% | 0% | 1% | 0% | 3% | |
| April 26, 2010 | Ipsos Napoleón Franco | 3% | 5% | 3% | - | 29% | 38% | 11% | 0% | 1% | 0% | 10% | |
| April 28, 2010 | Invamer Gallup | 5.7% | 5.0% | 3.6% | - | 34.2% | 31.6% | 16.2% | 0% | 0.1% | 0% | 3.5% | |
| April 29, 2010 | Centro Nacional de Consultoría | 3% | 5% | 4% | - | 34% | 39% | 11% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 4% | |
| April 30, 2010 | Datexco | 2.3% | 2.9% | 3.3% | - | 26.7% | 38.7% | 9.8% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 16.3% | |
| May 6, 2010 | Centro Nacional de Consultoría | 3% | 5% | 5% | - | 34% | 38% | 11% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 4% | |
| May 7, 2010 | Datexco | 1.4% | 4.2% | 3.1% | - | 25.2% | 37.7% | 6.7% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 21.7% | |
| May 9, 2010 | Ipsos Napoleón Franco | 4% | 4% | 3% | - | 35% | 34% | 8% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 12% | |
| May 13, 2010 | Centro Nacional de Consultoría | 3% | 4% | 4% | - | 38% | 36% | 9% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 6% | |
| May 14, 2010 | Datexco | 3.1% | 7.5% | 4.3% | - | 29.3% | 32.8% | 5.6% | 0% | 0.4% | 0% | 13.8% | |
| May 19, 2010 | Invamer Gallup | 3.8% | 7.3% | 3.8% | - | 37.5% | 35.4% | 8.8% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0% | 3.1% | |
| May 20, 2010 | University of Medellin | 2.4% | 5.5% | 3.6% | - | 32.9% | 37.4% | 8.1% | 0.4% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 6.9% | |
| May 20, 2010 | Centro Nacional De Consultoría | 4% | 5% | 4% | - | 39% | 34% | 9% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 4% | |
| May 21, 2010 | Datexco | 2% | 5% | 3% | - | 35% | 34% | 9% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 12% | |
| May 22, 2010 | Ipsos Napoleón Franco | 3% | 6% | 5% | - | 34% | 32% | 6% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 14% | |
Second Round: Mockus vs. Santos
| Date | Institute | Candidate | Undecided (Ns/Nr) V. None |
Source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Juan Manuel Santos | Antanas Mockus | ||||
| April 15, 2010 | Centro Nacional de Consultoría | 49% | 44% | 7% | |
| April 16, 2010 | Ipsos Napoleón Franco | 45% | 37% | 18% | |
| April 22, 2010 | Centro Nacional de Consultoría | 44% | 50% | 6% | |
| April 26, 2010 | Ipsos Napoleón Franco | 37% | 50% | 13% | |
| April 28, 2010 | Invamer Gallup | 42.2% | 47.9% | 9.9% | |
| April 29, 2010 | Centro Nacional de Consultoría | 42% | 53% | 5% | |
| April 30, 2010 | Datexco | 29% | 41.5% | 29.5% | |
| May 6, 2010 | Centro Nacional de Consultoría | 43% | 50% | 7% | |
| May 7, 2010 | Datexco | 30.5% | 52% | 17.5% | |
| May 9, 2010 | Ipsos Napoleón Franco | 41% | 48% | 11% | |
| May 13, 2010 | Centro Nacional de Consultoría | 47% | 47% | 6% | |
| May 14, 2010 | Datexco | 33.6% | 47.9% | 17.5% | |
| May 19, 2010 | Invamer Gallup | 42.2% | 48.5% | 9.3% | |
| May 20, 2010 | University of Medellin | 36% | 41.4% | 22.6% | |
| May 20, 2010 | Centro Nacional de Consultoría | 47% | 46% | 7% | |
| May 21, 2010 | Datexco | 44% | 45% | 11% | |
| May 22, 2010 | Ipsos Napoleón Franco | 40% | 45% | 15% | |
| June 3, 2010 | Centro Nacional de Consultoría | 61.6% | 29.8% | 5.8% | |
Electoral results
On polling day seven Colombian security services personnel were killed and eight were missing; parallels were drawn with FARC attacks and Santos' tenure as Defense Minister.Results
No candidate received an outright majority in the first round vote held on May 30. Santos and Mockus faced one another in the runoff election on 20 June, leading to the election of Juan Manuel Santos as the next Colombian President.Santos achieved a landslide victory, with 69 per cent of the votes. Mockus got 27.51 per cent of votes. This was the largest margin of victory for a president in the democratic period of Colombia's history. Santos won 32 of the country's 33 electoral districts. His allies have an overwhelming majority in the Colombian Congress. Santos vowed to continue his predecessor's hardline stance against the country's Marxist rebels. He paraphrased Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
– "If we have come far it's because we are standing on the shoulders of giants" – and said he would rid Colombia of what he described as the "nightmare of violence".
The United States State Department
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
said it was "pleased" with the election of Santos and praised the "spirited debate" before the runoff and Colombia's "longstanding commitment to democratic principles".