Colombia election: Run-off expected in first vote since Farc deal

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-44272907

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Colombia appears to be heading for a run-off in its presidential election after no candidate looked set to achieve 50% of the vote.

With most ballots counted in Sunday's first round, conservative Ivan Duque was leading with 39.7% ahead of left-wing rival Gustavo Petro on 24.8%.

It is the first election since the government signed a peace agreement with the Farc rebel group in 2016.

The deal has polarised political opinion across the country.

Mr Duque has opposed the peace deal, saying it is too lenient on the Farc. But Mr Petro, an ex-guerrilla and former Bogota mayor, supports the accord.

Incumbent President Juan Manuel Santos cannot stand again, after serving two terms.

Casting his vote in the capital Bogota, Mr Santos praised the peaceful atmosphere in which the election was taking place.

"So far not a single voting station has had to be moved for security reasons," he said in a televised address.

"It's been many decades since that has happened. In other words, these elections are going to be the most secure, the calmest."

President Santos, a centre-right politician, sought to end the decades-long conflict with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), the country's main guerrilla group.

The peace deal he signed in 2016 was reached after years of negotiations. But it was regarded as too lenient by many voters and rejected in a referendum.

A revised accord was approved by Congress later that year.

Mr Duque has promised to reverse some of the provisions of the deal if he becomes president.

He is an ally of former President Alvaro Uribe, who led the campaign against the agreement.

Mr Petro, who backs the deal, would be Colombia's first-ever left-wing president if he is elected.

In the 1980s he was a member of the M-19 rebel group, which disbanded itself in 1990 to become a political party.

Correspondents say that with the main civil conflict over, voters are much more worried about economic issues.

The candidates have mainly campaigned on issues such as inequality, unemployment, housing and corruption.

Also standing in the election were:

About 100 international observers are monitoring the elections.