An Act of Faith

The selection of a candidate within Colombia’s left was supposed to be the most orderly, strategic, and meticulous process but, much like the current government, it ended up being a chaos filled with uncertainty. The legal dispute with the National Electoral Council (CNE), the internal disorder of the parties, and the egos of the pre-candidates turned what should have been a consultation with eight candidates into one with two and “a half.” That “half” reflects the surreal nature of the situation, as Daniel Quintero, who was registered in the consultation and whose photo appeared on the ballots, announced that he would not participate just days before the vote. Despite everything, and thanks to the infinite faith of Gustavo Petro’s followers, the consultation was an electoral success, achieving nearly three million votes. How did the most structured and carefully planned candidate filter deform itself? Why did Daniel Quintero, despite being registered, refuse to participate? Why was the consultation a success even amid so much chaos?

The left’s initial goal was to unify the Communist Party, Unión Patriotica, Polo Democrático, Progresistas, and Colombia Humana into a single party: Pacto Histórico. This party would hold an internal consultation to choose its candidate, who would then face other left-wing candidates in the Broad Front interparty consultation in March 2026. However, the strategy began to collapse when the CNE prevented both Progresistas and Colombia Humana, the president’s party, from joining the coalition.

The CNE argued that Colombia Humana failed to meet the deliberative quorum required by its own statutes when it decided to unify. Meanwhile, Progresistas cannot obtain legal status until the MAIS party, from which it originated, resolves the disciplinary processes against it. Following the example of their political leader, the pre-candidates spoke of secret conclaves, conspiracies against their rights, and attacked the CNE head-on. What none of them mentioned is that the CNE’s decision was unanimous, even the representatives of their own movements within the organization endorsed it.

The issue of Daniel Quintero’s participation became a full-blown legal debate. Amid the confusion surrounding the merger of the parties, the Pacto Histórico’s consultation went from being internal to interparty. This created legal uncertainty for the pre-candidates, since anyone participating in one interparty consultation cannot join another, therefore they would be barred from taking part in the Broad Front’s consultation with the rest of the left-wing candidates. Quintero used this argument to withdraw from an election where defeat was expected, and although he will not be legally allowed to participate in the Broad Front’s consultation in March, he will surely use his “victim of the CNE” narrative as a political pressure tool.

In the end, the consultation took place and the results were unexpected. Beyond the victory of Iván Cepeda, which was almost guaranteed before voting began, it was the number of votes that stood out. Despite the problems in the party merger, the mass withdrawal of pre-candidates, the legal uncertainty over whether it was inter- or intra-party, and the off-calendar voting date, the consultation drew 2,715,212 votes. That figure is very similar to the votes obtained in the legislative elections of 2022, yet well above what had been predicted given the general chaos surrounding the consultation and the government’s continuous missteps.

Everything seems to indicate that the Petro administration’s mismanagement does not affect its most loyal base nor the faith they place in the president. It is not enough to be amid one of Colombia’s worst diplomatic crises in recent history and have a president who believes the best course is to keep fighting with the world’s leading power. It is not enough to be the most fiscally irresponsible administration in decades, violating fiscal rules and jeopardizing the government’s financial sustainability. It is not enough to have campaigned against corruption while being surrounded by convicted individuals and officials under criminal investigation. It does not matter that the president prides himself on being a democrat yet acts in an authoritarian and anti-democratic manner, crying “coup” every time he faces opposition or threatening to call a constituent assembly he had sworn countless times he would not convene.

Denying or downplaying the left’s results is a strategic mistake the opposition cannot afford. If this was the outcome of a short, chaotic campaign riddled with doubts over whether it would even happen, the results will be even better when more is at stake in the legislative and presidential elections. The nearly three million votes reinforce the idea that the left’s candidate already has a guaranteed spot in the presidential runoff, and that no matter how poorly Petro governs, his followers continue to have faith, performing mental gymnastics to justify and defend him. The problem with faith is that it is blind, it demands belief without evidence and romanticizes thinking against reason. What happened on Sunday was clearly an act of political faith. But while faith may win elections, it is certainly not enough to govern a country.