Colombia’s FARC suffers as conservatives dominate polls


FE Team | Published: March 12, 2018 14:00:58 | Updated: March 14, 2018 12:13:12


Ivan Duque, presidential candidate of the Centro Democratico party gives a speech after knowing the results of the legislative elections in Bogota, Colombia March 11, 2018. Reuters.

Colombia's conservative parties, opposed to the 2016 peace deal with FARC rebels, have taken the lead in the country's elections.

Sunday's vote was the first in which the former FARC guerrillas, now a political party, took part.

With more than 90% of voted counted, ex-president Alvaro Uribe's Democratic Centre party won the most seats, reports the BBC.

The FARC performed poorly, in line with expectations - but is guaranteed some seats by the peace agreement.

It received just 0.4% of the total number of votes - but will receive five seats each of the two chambers of parliament.

Final official results are expected later on Monday.

Polling was also reported to be unusually peaceful compared to previous years, when it has sometimes been marred by violence.

The right-wing parties performed best, but still fell short of an overall majority.

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