Colombia heads for run-off

First round of presidential race leads to an indecisive verdict

Colombian presidential candidate Ivan Duque, who won the most votes in round 1.

Colombia headed for its most divisive presidential race in decades after right-winger Ivan Duque won Sunday’s first-round vote, triggering a run-off with leftist Gustavo Petro that could upset a historic peace deal or derail business friendly reforms.

Mr. Duque, 41, a former official of the Washington-based Inter-American Development Bank, was the convincing winner of Sunday’s ballot with 39% of votes, ahead of Mr. Petro, an outspoken ex-Mayor of Bogotá, with 25%, broadly in line with polls. However, Mr. Duque’s pledge to overhaul the 2016 peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) by scrapping immunity for those convicted of crimes has worried many Colombians, weary after five decades of conflict that killed about 2,00,000 people.

Pro-peace pact

Mr. Petro has backed the peace agreement, along with the three other losing candidates, meaning Mr. Duque may need to moderate his position to attract wavering voters.

The winner of next month’s second round will face an intimidating array of challenges, from stubbornly low economic growth to threats to Colombia’s prized investment grade credit rating as well as difficulties in implementing the peace accord.