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On July 20, Colombia marked Independence Day with its traditional military parade and the opening session of a newly elected Congress.
Traditionally, political parties negotiate the composition of congressional committees and agree on candidates for leadership positions before the opening session. The formal vote typically ratifies those agreements.
Not this time!
President-elect Abelardo De La Espriella entered into a political confrontation with former President Álvaro Uribe over the selection of the next president of the Senate. In a surprising turn, Petro’s Pacto Histórico coalition backed Uribe’s candidate, Honorio Henríquez, helping him secure the Senate presidency.
Although De La Espriella will not take office until August 7, the Senate vote represents an early political setback for an incoming president who won the election by less than one percentage point.
Furthermore, the president-elect ran an unconventional campaign outside Colombia’s dominant party structures. Although his allies secured a small number of congressional seats in March, he will enter office without a large or cohesive legislative bloc of his own.
The outcome suggests that the incoming president may begin his term from a weaker political position than expected. He is likely to face significant pressure from opposition and independent parties to moderate his right-wing agenda, negotiate individual measures, and adopt a more centrist governing approach.
Whether this episode proves to be a temporary setback or the first sign of a difficult relationship with Congress will depend on the president's ability to build coalitions. Campaign victories are won at the ballot box, but governing requires legislative alliances. The July 20 vote suggests that those alliances cannot be taken for granted.
Espriella is an outsider to the Colombian party system, similar to Trump. Thus, he does not have a built-in political party to support him in the national legislature, and he will have to work with the existing conservatives loyal to former President Uribe. That is not so bad, and part of how republican politics work.