Colombian general election, 1974

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General elections were held in Colombia on 21 April 1974 to elect the President, the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives. [1] They were the first elections after the end of the National Front agreement, which had restricted electoral participation to the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party, with each party allocated 50% of the seats in both houses, [2] whilst the Presidency alternated between the two parties.

Colombia Country in South America

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a sovereign state largely situated in the northwest of South America, with territories in Central America. Colombia shares a border to the northwest with Panama, to the east with Venezuela and Brazil and to the south with Ecuador and Peru. It shares its maritime limits with Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. Colombia is a unitary, constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments, with the capital in Bogota.

President of Colombia

The President of Colombia, officially known as the President of the Republic of Colombia is the head of state and head of government of Colombia. The office of president was established upon the ratification of the Constitution of 1819, by the Congress of Angostura, convened in December 1819, when Colombia was the "Gran Colombia". The first president, General Simón Bolívar, took office in 1819. His position, initially self-proclaimed, was subsequently ratified by Congress.

Senate of Colombia

The Senate of the Republic of Colombia is the upper house of the Congress of Colombia, with the lower house being the House of Representatives. The Senate has 108 members elected for concurrent (non-rotating) four-year terms.

Contents

Although the 1974 elections were crucial in that both parties fielded presidential candidates for the first time in over thirty years, only 45 percent of eligible voters voted. Scholars also attributed Colombia's traditionally high abstention rates to apathy, to non-compulsory voting, and to bureaucratic obstacles, such as inconvenient residency requirements. [3] In the presidential elections, all three main candidates were the son or daughter of previous presidents. Alfonso López Michelsen of the Liberal Party emerged as the winner with 56% of the vote. [4] The Liberal Party also won a majority of seats in Congress.

Alfonso López Michelsen 24th President of Colombia from 1974 to 1978

Alfonso López Michelsen is a Colombian politician and lawyer who served the 24th President of Colombia from 1974 to 1978. He was nicknamed "El Pollo", a popular Colombian idiom for people with precocious careers.

Background to the Election

The National Front (1958–74)

The initial discussion of the National Front began in 1958 between liberal Alberto Lleras Camargo and conservative Laureano Gomez when they wrote the Pacto de Benidorm, which lead to a 16-year term in which the Liberal and Conservatives would alternate presidency every four years. The National Front was the result of following series of agreements between Camargo and Gomez including The March Pact and the Pacto de Sitges and created a joining force between the Liberal and Conservative parties. The agreement affirmed to assuage interparty strife and distrust due violence and democratic collapse, mainly in response to La Violencia, a civil war which lasted from 1948 to 1958 between the Colombian Conservative Party and Colombian Liberal Party parliamentary forces who organized as armed self-defense and guerrilla military units. The cause of this internal strife was due to the refusal of successive governments to accede to the people's demands for socioeconomic change and instead created a military occupation in Colombia that sent the national economy deep into debt. [5] General Rojas Pinilla took power in 1953, he declared an amnesty that demobilized most of the armed groups. However, due to conflict with the Liberal and Conservative groups, Rojas was removed from power in 1957, and the Liberal-Conservative parties took over again with their new alliance to try and rehabilitate the economy while maintaining power.

<i>La Violencia</i> civil war in Colombia between 1946 and 1958

La Violencia was a ten-year civil war in Colombia from 1948 to 1958, between the Colombian Conservative Party and the Colombian Liberal Party, fought mainly in the countryside.

Colombian Conservative Party traditional political party in Colombia

The Colombian Conservative Party is a conservative political party in Colombia. The party was formally established in 1849 by Mariano Ospina Rodríguez and José Eusebio Caro.

Colombian Liberal Party political party

The Colombian Liberal Party is a centrist and social liberal political party in Colombia. It was founded as a classical liberal party but later developed a more social-democratic tradition, joining the Socialist International in 1999.

While the National Front reduced violence and helped raise GDP, it resulted in bipartisan stalemate. The Liberal and Conservative parties held nearly half and half power in the Upper and Lower House divisions and were unable to pass reform with a two-third vote since securing bipartisan support for policies was nearly impossible. This inability to create reform created intra-party factionalism that manifested in the creation of party affiliated social movements. The rise of dissident groups opposing the National Front were forming movements to challenge the existing establishment and would eventually become official parties in the 1974 elections. [6]

Liberal dissenters formed the Liberal Recovery Movement (Spanish: Movimiento de Recuperacion Liberal, later renamed Movimiento Revoluciónario Liberal; MRL) under Alfonso Lopez Michelsen in 1959. In 1961, the populist National Popular Alliance (Spanish: Alianza Nacional Popular; ANAPO) by Gustavo Rojas Pinillas after his return from exile. [7] As these movements gained power, by 1974, the original Liberal and Conservative parties had become weak and internally factioned, but no longer strongly opposed one another. Also, migration from rural to urban areas weakened party identification and loyalty, reflecting a gap between the political elite and the concerns of the populace. [8]

Gustavo Rojas Pinilla President of Colombia

Gustavo Rojas Pinilla was the 19th President of Colombia from June 1953 to May 1957. An Army General, he mounted a successful coup d'état against the incumbent President, Laureano Gómez Castro (1889—1965), imposing martial law and establishing a dictatorship-style government in Colombia.

Electoral system

Voting

Colombia had universal suffrage for citizens who were at least 21 years of age, registered electors in their respective municipalities, and had not been deprived of their civil or political rights to vote. Voting was non-compulsory. Armed forces on active duty and members of the police force were debarred from participating. [9]

Compulsory voting requires citizens to register to vote and to go to their polling place or vote on election day

Compulsory voting is an effect of laws which require eligible citizens to register and vote in elections, and may impose penalties on those who fail to do so. As of August 2013, 22 countries provide for compulsory voting, and 11 democracies — about 5% of all United Nations members — enforce it.

Presidential elections were conducted under a first-past the post electoral system. Representatives and Senators were elected under a closed list proportional representation (CLPR) system (different districts had different magnitudes, according to population). 22 constituencies made a single Department. Less-densely populated regions were grouped to form 4 or more constituencies. Seat allocation was assigned through simple allocation. Voting for both Chambers took place on the presidential election day. [10]

The CLPR system promoted intra-party competition but it acted as a single non-transferable vote system. This in turn, promulgated clientelistic relationships between voters and representatives, personalistic voting and party decay. [11]

Candidate Qualifications

To run for the House of Representatives, candidates must be at least 25 years of age and never been condemned for a non-political offense involving corporal punishment. To run for Senate, candidates must (in addiction to House of Representative qualifications) be at least 30 years of age, Colombian by birth, and held high offices or have undertaken a liberal profession with a university degree. [12]

The number of seats in both houses of Congress were reduced as seats created to make an even number in each constituency during the National Front period were abolished. [13]

General Political Considerations and Conduct of the Elections

Colombia's 1973 Congressional elections were held on the same day as presidential election for the first time in 25 years. This presidential election contained three opposition parties of left-wingers, challenging the traditional duality of Conservative and Liberal parties. This was also the end of the 16 year rule of the National Front coalition pact.

All three of the main candidates had Presidents of the Republic as fathers; Personalities were not an important factor.

Following scattered violence during the presidential campaign, election day abstentions were numerous-- only 45 percent of those eligible voted. [14] However, the amount of citizens who voted was one of the highest recorded voter turnouts in Colombian history. [15]

The number of seats in both houses of Congress were reduced as seats created to make an even number in each constituency during the National Front period were abolished. [16]

Presidential Candidates

The following are individuals who have formally announced that they are running for president in 1974.

Liberal Party (Spanish: Partido Liberal Colombiano; PLC)

Conservative Party (Spanish: Partido Conservedor Colombiano; PCC)

National Opposition Union (Spanish: Unión Nacional de Oposición; UNO)

Christian Democratic Party (Spanish: Partido democrático cristiano; PDC)

Independent

Results

President

Leading presidential candidate in each department Alfonso Lopez Won Alvaro Hurtado won Colombian Presidential Election Results, 1974.svg
Leading presidential candidate in each department
  Alfonso López Won
  Álvaro Hurtado won
CandidatePartyVotes%
Alfonso López Michelsen Liberal Party 2,929,71956.3
Álvaro Gómez Hurtado Conservative Party 1,634,87931.4
María Eugenia Rojas Correa National Popular Alliance 492,1669.5
Hernando Echeverri Meija National Opposition Union 137,0542.6
Hermes Duarte AriasChristian Democratic Party5,7180.1
José CórdobaIndependent60.0
Invalid/blank votes12,591–
Total5,212,133100
Registered voters/turnout8,964,47258.1
Source: Nohlen

Senate

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Liberal Party 2,840,31555.866+7
Conservative Party 1,631,11532.037–22
National Popular Alliance 458,7459.07–
National Opposition Union 155,1583.02New
Christian Democratic Party7,9090.20New
Others1,3100.00–
Invalid/blank votes12,223–––
Total5,106,775100112–6
Registered voters/turnout8,925,33057.2––
Source: Nohlen

Chamber of Representatives

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Liberal Party 2,835,24555.7113+8
Conservative Party 1,631,92632.066–39
National Popular Alliance 458,4249.015–
National Opposition Union 155,8553.15New
Christian Democratic Party5,6740.10New
Others1,7640.00–
Invalid/blank votes11,211–––
Total5,100,099100199–11
Registered voters/turnout8,925,33057.1––
Source: Nohlen

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References

  1. ↑ Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume II, p305 ISBN   978-0-19-928358-3
  2. ↑ Nohlen, p323
  3. ↑ http://countrystudies.us/colombia/
  4. ↑ Nohlen, p353
  5. ↑ http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/colombia/la-violencia.htm
  6. ↑ Dennis M. Hanratty and Sandra W. Meditz, editors. Colombia: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1988.
  7. ↑ http://motherearthtravel.com/history/colombia/history-9.htm
  8. ↑ https://www.loc.gov/item/2010009203/
  9. ↑ http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/COLOMBIA_1974_E.PDF
  10. ↑ http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/COLOMBIA_1974_E.PDF
  11. ↑ http://americo.usal.es/iberoame/sites/default/files/botero_losada_wills_colombia.pdf
  12. ↑ http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/COLOMBIA_1974_E.PDF
  13. ↑ Nohlen, p346
  14. ↑ http://www.photius.com/countries/colombia/government/colombia_government_the_electoral_system.html
  15. ↑ http://americo.usal.es/iberoame/sites/default/files/botero_losada_wills_colombia.pdf
  16. ↑ Nohlen, p346
  17. ↑ http://wsp.presidencia.gov.co/asiescolombia/presidentes/rc_61.html
  18. ↑ http://www.banrepcultural.org/blaavirtual/biografias/rijameri2.htm
  19. ↑ http://tribunaroja.moir.org.co/HERNANDO-ECHEVERRI-MEJIA-CANDIDATO.html
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