The far-right presidential hopeful in Colombia, Abelardo de la Espriella, urged the ruling party's candidate, Iván Cepeda, this Monday to accept the magazine 'Semana's' proposal to participate in an electoral debate before the second round scheduled for June 21.
Moments earlier, Cepeda had raised the possibility of facing off in a head-to-head debate, after having refused to attend debates with the other candidates during the campaign and stating his willingness to debate only with those he considered his opponents within the far-right, De la Espriella and Paloma Valencia.
In this context, De la Espriella has accepted the invitation extended by the aforementioned media outlet, which sent a letter to both contenders to hold a political meeting next Tuesday, June 9, at 7:00 PM local time. "Here is the date and time, debate at 'Semana'," stated the man who calls himself 'The Tiger'.
The candidate took the opportunity to reiterate his reproaches to Cepeda for not yet acknowledging the election results, while the left-wing hopeful insisted he would wait to comment until doubts about the electoral roll were cleared up, an issue on which President Gustavo Petro has also expressed himself.
De la Espriella also proposed that the Vice Presidential candidates join the debate: Aida Quilcué, on Cepeda's ticket, and José Manuel Restrepo as his running mate, arguing that Colombia should know "their respective replacements, in case one of them were to be absent due to health reasons or any twist of fate."
For his part, Cepeda made his willingness to debate public today, although subject to a series of conditions that will be specified in the coming days. During the campaign, he had already warned that, if he finally participated in a head-to-head debate, he would not do so by subjecting "the dignity" of his political project to "the culture of spectacle."
True to his combative style, De la Espriella used this contest to respond in an incendiary tone and launch personal attacks against his adversary, reinforced by his victory in the first round held this Sunday, in which he obtained 43.7% of the votes compared to the 40.9% garnered by Cepeda.
"Now yes, coward? You hid while your owner ran your campaign, and they failed. First, acknowledge the election results and let's debate right now," he wrote in an extensive social media tirade, in which he also called on the Armed Forces to remain attentive to the development of the electoral process.