What Colombia’s new Congress could mean for the country’s plans for a Just Transition

Colombia elected a new Congress on 8 March 2026. The elections for the members of the Senate and the House of Representatives were considered an indicator for the upcoming presidential elections taking place on 31 May 2026, particularly regarding the chances of the candidate Iván Cepeda winning the presidency and ensuring continuity of the policies of the leftist government under Gustavo Petro.

This is especially relevant regarding the Just Energy Transition initiated by the Petro government to phase out fossil fuels while aiming at re-industrialisation and the achievement of energy and food sovereignty.

With an electoral participation rate of 50 per cent (21 million voters), the governing party Pacto Histórico received 4.4 million votes for the Senate (22.72 per cent, compared to 2.9 million and 17 per cent in 2022), establishing itself as the strongest party in the Senate and the most voted party in Colombia. It was followed by Centro Democrático, the party of former right-wing president Álvaro Uribe, which established itself as the main opposition force with 3 million votes (15.62 per cent). Alianza por Colombia, the coalition partner of Pacto Histórico in government, grouping various ecologist and leftist parties, achieved 1.9 million votes (9.8 per cent). Two additional seats were won by Indigenous parties participating in the Petro government.

Pacto Histórico increased its seats in the Senate from 20 to 25 out of a total of 103 seats (102 were elected, and one is reserved for the candidate who comes second in the presidential elections). Together with its coalition partners, it now holds 37 out of 103 seats, three more than in the 2022 elections. This gain was achieved despite the elimination of the five seats previously reserved for the party Comunes (which was part of the government) as part of the peace agreements with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla, and despite the reduction in the number of Senate seats from 108 to 103.

The Senate, which together with the House of Representatives constitutes the Congress, is the main political arena. It proposes, debates, and approves national legislation, is exclusively in charge of foreign policy and national defence, and appoints the justices of the Supreme Court.

The House of Representatives represents the country’s departments. It discusses and amends laws regarding certain aspects of the national budget and exercises political oversight. The modalities for electing it are highly complex. Of its 183 members (the five seats for Comunes that previously existed were abolished in these elections), 162 are elected by proportional representation from 33 constituencies, two are elected by the Afro-Colombian community, one by the Indigenous community, one by Colombians living abroad, and 16 through the Special Transitory Peace Constituencies in certain rural zones that had been most affected by the war (as part of the peace agreements with the FARC). One additional seat is reserved for the vice-presidential candidate receiving the second-highest number of votes.

The opposition party Centro Democrático won 32 seats and became the strongest party in the House of Representatives, followed by the Liberal Party with 31 seats. Pacto Histórico came third with 29 seats, three more than in 2022. All in all, the government previously held 68 seats in the House of Representatives.  The number of seats it can count now will only become clear after negotiations with several of the 24 parties and party alliances represented in the House of Representatives.

Although Pacto Histórico and its partners did not achieve a majority in the elections, the gains of Pacto Histórico are highly significant because they were achieved in a context in which all major media outlets and the national bourgeoisie oppose the government, and the Trump administration has openly threatened Colombia with military intervention. The Petro government did not previously hold a majority in the bicameral Congress either and had to negotiate its policies with the highly fragmented party spectrum, a process that becomes easier with a larger number of seats.

Overall, the election results highlight how the new composition of Congress shapes the political environment in which the Just Energy Transition is being advanced. Even without securing a majority, Pacto Histórico’s gains matter because they strengthen the governing coalition in a highly fragmented legislature and in the face of powerful opposition. With a larger number of seats, negotiating policies become easier than before, helping to maintain the continuity of the government’s efforts to phase out fossil fuels while pursuing re-industrialisation and independent energy and food systems.   

The “Just Transitions: A Global Exploration” project is funded by the Hans Böckler Foundation.