Rodolfo Hernández, a populist businessman, finished second in Colombia's presidential election on Sunday, securing a run-off against former leftwing rebel Gustavo Petro.

With the majority of results in, Hernández, an outspoken populist comparable to former US President Donald Trump, had received around 28 percent of the vote, defeating the more established center-right contender Federico Gutiérrez, who had received 24 percent.

Election Run-Off For Ex-Rebel, Colombia's "Trump"

Petro received more than 40% of the vote; but considering that the majority of Gutiérrez's followers are expected to favor Hernández in the second round, the leftwing leader faces a difficult task in winning the presidency. He received almost 8.5 million votes while Hernández and Gutiérrez received over 11 million votes each.

On Monday, the results were expected to jolt financial markets. Economists predicted that if Hernández advanced to the second round, the peso and Colombian assets would rise in expectation of a run-off win.

For most of the campaign, Petro and Gutiérrez topped opinion polls; but Hernández, a straight-talking 77-year-old businessman who funded his campaign, surged in the last polls before the vote. Some right-wing voters appear to have thrown their support behind him at the last minute as their best bet of keeping Petro out of government, Financial Times reported.

Despite being under investigation for allegedly favoring a corporation for which his son lobbied, Petro ran on an anti-corruption platform. Whoever wins next month will have to deal with public unhappiness over rising inequality and inflation, as well as the legacy of a brutal war between communist rebels and the state that was supposed to end with a 2016 peace accord.

Iván Duque, the very unpopular departing president, was not permitted to run again since the law limits him to a single term. Petro's fans cheered in downtown Bogotá as word spread of his first-round victory.

Francia Márquez, an environmentalist, is Petro's running partner and aims to become the country's first black vice president. Federico Gutiérrez, viewed as Iván Duque's ideological successor, had been projected to finish second, but with virtually all ballots tallied, he had earned just under 24 percent, while Hernández had 28 percent.

Accepting loss, Gutiérrez urged fans to support Rodolfo Hernández and running partner Marelen Castillo in the second round. The second round promises to be a battle, as per BBC.

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Petro's Allies Warn Possible Fraud in Colombia Election 2022

Petro's first-round victory was consistent with pollsters' forecasts in the months leading up to the elections. Except one pollster, none of the pollsters projected Hernandez's triumph. The eviction of the candidate backed by all of the coalition government's parties was as significant as the opposition leader's triumph. Gutierrez's defeat is a big setback for President Ivan Duque, whose political allies lost both legislative and presidential elections

The declaration lessens the likelihood that Gutierrez's far-right and conservative backers would reject the first-round results. Former President Alvaro Uribe, Duque's alleged criminal sponsor, issued fraud claims throughout the day.

Senator Armando Benedetti, one of Petro's biggest friends, also warned of suspected fraud almost immediately as the polls opened at 8 am. The charges of fraud are the consequence of a loss of public trust in the National Registry, which has occurred as a result of several anomalies in legislative elections, according to Columbia Reports.

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