Colombia’s president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella has vowed to hold a modest swearing-in ceremony on August 7 as he prepares to take office amid a stand-off with outgoing President Gustavo Petro.
The 47-year-old said the ceremony would be simple, “without extravagance,” adding that he had directed authorities not to spend the full budget usually allocated for presidential inaugurations.
He also insisted on holding his inauguration at a military facility in southern Colombia to honour the armed forces despite objections from Petro, whom he described as “delusional,” Anadolu Ajansi reported.
“Colombians can rest assured that I will fulfil my promise: I am going to be sworn in in the southern part of the country at a military garrison to pay a solemn tribute to the heroes of our nation and the uniformed personnel who protect democracy, freedom and our institutions,” he wrote on X.
Earlier, Petro prohibited the use of military or police facilities for the president-elect’s inauguration, emphasising that he remains the supreme commander of the Armed Forces until August 7.
He also said the constitution requires the formal oath of office to take place before a plenary session of Congress in the historic Capitol building on Bogota’s Plaza de Bolivar.
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De la Espriella boycotts transition, alleges ‘coup’
The latest clash came after de la Espriella announced the immediate suspension of the presidential transition process after Petro refused to recognise the June 21 election results, in which he secured a razor-thin 49.7% of the vote.
“My duty is to protect the interests of the nation and guarantee a serious, transparent transition that serves the Colombian people, never legitimise disaster or disregard for the constitutional order,” he said.
The announcement puts a halt to the transition meetings between the two parties, which were launched on July 2 with a pledge to be “orderly and transparent.”
The conservative lawyer and businessman also accused the incumbent leader of attempting a “coup” to cling to power, calling Petro a “tyrant.”
Nonetheless, both parties assured that the technical handover of information would continue and that the outgoing government would compile reports and hold scheduled sessions even if the president-elect’s team decided not to attend.
Petro alleges electoral fraud
Leftist Petro, who was barred by the constitution from running for a second term, alleged that half a million automated bots were deployed to manipulate the tightly contested presidential run-off between de la Espriella and Ivan Cepeda.
In a post on X, Petro claimed that Israeli cyber-intelligence firm BlackCore deployed 500,000 fake profiles to influence the Colombian electorate with millions of false claims about him and Cepeda.
The allegations followed Petro’s earlier assertions that the National Registry’s vote-counting software had been “compromised,” citing detected alterations in the IP addresses of several key government services, Al Jazeera reported.
However, Colombia’s National Registry and the National Electoral Council said the vote-counting software remained secure and transparent and dismissed claims that government server IP addresses had been altered.
Electoral observers from the Organisation of American States and the European Union also upheld the integrity of the run-off results, saying no evidence of manipulation or cyber interference was detected during the voting process.
Petro reaffirms commitment to ‘peaceful transition’
Despite continuing to question the election results, Petro recently told Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a phone conversation that he remains committed to a “peaceful transition.”
According to the Brazilian government, Petro assured Lula that he would remain in power until August 6, as planned, and “reaffirmed his commitment to democracy and a peaceful transition” in Colombia, Agence France-Presse reported.
Even with this assurance, the United States as well as 12 members of the Shields of Americas Alliance urged the Colombian government in a joint statement to conduct a peaceful transition of power, Buenos Aires Times reported.
“We issue a firm call to all Colombian authorities to act in strict adherence to the Constitution, the law and democratic principles…and to guarantee a peaceful, orderly and transparent transition in accordance with the highest standards of the Rule of Law,” the statement read.
Fears of rising political tensions
The appeal came after Petro called on his supporters to protest on July 20 alongside his farewell address as president.
The planned demonstrations have raised concerns that the stand-off between Petro and de la Espriella could inflame political tensions in a country already grappling with territorial conflicts involving drug cartels and dissident guerrilla groups.
Colombia also faces high levels of organised crime, robbery and scams, particularly in major cities such as Bogota and Medellin.
The political stand-off has fuelled concerns that prolonged tensions could add to Colombia’s existing security and governance challenges.
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