Ivan Cepeda concedes defeat in Colombia election, sealing right-wing win

Presidential candidate Ivan Cepeda accepted the victory of his opponent Abelardo de la Espriella.Bogota, Colombia – Colombian presidential candidate Ivan Cepeda officially conceded defeat to hard-right populist Abelardo de la Espriella this morning following a tight run-off race.While Cepeda had recognised the legitimacy of the preliminary results on Sunday, which gave de la Espriella a less than 1 percent lead, he said he would wait for the final, legally binding vote count, known as the scrutiny, before accepting defeat.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Trump-endorsed far-right candidate elected Colombia president: What’s next?list 2 of 3Far-right lawyer De La Espriella wins Colombia’s tight presidential racelist 3 of 3Polls open in Colombia presidential race pitting leftist against hardlinerend of list“I have decided to accept the result of this process, which indicates that Abelardo de la Espriella is the new president of the Republic,” said Cepeda in a livestreamed address on Wednesday.While the voting verification process has not been fully completed, the National Registry, which oversees the elections, said yesterday that Sunday’s preliminary vote count was “99.997 percent” accurate after revision by judges at the municipal level. The vote must now be verified at the departmental and national levels.There had been doubts among the Cepeda camp about the legitimacy of the vote process, with President Gustavo Petro – who was closely involved in the leftist candidate’s campaign – openly alleging fraud and foreign interference before and after the election.“Electoral manipulation has been proven; I cannot say for certain that what has been uncovered guarantees an electoral victory [for Cepeda], but it is a fact,” wrote Petro on Monday.For months, the president has warned about vulnerabilities in vote-counting software and clashed with the National Registry.