MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Colombians “undecided” are the third strongest 'party' for 29 May presidential election

Gustavo Petro, former mayor of Bogotá has a national vote intention of 36,64%

With less than two weeks to the first round, 29 May, of the Colombian presidency election, the undecided voters have become decisive for the outcome according to the latest opinion poll by T&SE, Technology and Electoral Services, with data collected between 23 April and 8 May, interviewing 8,000 people across the country.

This means according to pollsters' jargon with so many interviews across the country, that the minus/plus error factor is less that 2,7% and “confidence level” is close to 97,3%.

Gustavo Petro, from the left wing Historic Pact coalition leads with 36,64% vote intention, followed by Conservative Federico Gutierrez with 21,40%, meaning the two hopefuls will face a runoff a month later.

However the third positioned are the undecided, with 14,39% plus 6,19% blank vote, while the remaining candidates, with the exception of Rodolfo Hernandez, 10,90%, and Sergio Fajardo, 6%, are below two percentage points.

Why so many undecided? Alfonso Portela head of T&SE points out that normally this sector tend to vote for the “winning horse”, but also indicates electoral campaigns have not reached people's true interests or concerns.

“Too much squabbling and attacks on contenders, so finally there is 'no one to whom to vote for'”, is the prevailing opinion in the divided country..

The phenomenon is particularly outstanding in the capital Bogota with eight million people of the 52 million Colombians. While Petro, a former Bogotá mayor has a vote intention of 37,82%, the undecided follow with 18,49% and the conservative candidate, Gutierrez, 15,62%.

Anyhow according to Portela if political campaigns redirection the tune of their proposals, “there is an ample field from where to catch potential voters”.