Leading presidential candidate Iván Duque has kept his substantial lead ahead of next month’s elections, according to the latest official polls coming out of Colombia.
Survey numbers this week from the National Consultancy Center show 36 percent of voters will cast their ballots for the right-of-center candidate who is being groomed by former president Álvaro Uribe. Like his mentor, the 41-year-old senator has publically opposed Colombia’s peace deal for what they criticize to be overly lenient agreements with the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), like amnesty.
Though he still leads, Duque’s numbers are down six percentage points from the last poll taken on March 23.
Leftist candidate Gustavo Petro remains in second place with 22 percent of the vote, which is down four points from the last poll. The former mayor of Bogotá has positioned himself to get into a two-man second-round vote on June 17, which occurs in Colombia if no single candidate receives more than 50 percent of the popular vote.
Even if Petro does not win the presidency, he has positioned himself nicely to lead the opposition to Duque and Uribe’s establishment reign.
Former Governor of Antioquia Sergio Fajardo was the only candidate of consequence who saw his poll numbers increase from the past two weeks. Fajardo has 17 percent of potential voters in his corner, up four points from the last survey.
