Read more: Senator Omar Fernandez delivers inclusive park for children with disabilities
Cepeda, 75 years old, was President of the Senate between 2024 and 2025, during which time he received harsh criticism from Petro, who even verbally offended him in some public acts for opposing his reforms. The conservative candidate, who is an industrial economist and a specialist in high finance, has been a senator since 1994 and is one of the most visible faces of his party, especially since he verbally clashed with the president and became one of the main figures of the opposition. The congressman thus enters a contest in which at least 69 Colombians have registered committees to seek the signatures that will allow them to endorse their candidacy for the presidential elections of May 2026. In the Registry’s list, well-known names appear, such as those of former ministers Mauricio Lizcano, Mauricio Cárdenas, and Luis Gilberto Murillo; the former mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López; the journalist Vicky Dávila; the lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella or the former governor of the department of Antioquia, Aníbal Gaviria. Also listed are former Senator David Luna, former director of the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE) Juan Daniel Oviedo, and former Interior Minister Daniel Palacios.Besides these 69 pre-candidates, Colombia has the presidential candidates proposed by the parties, as is the case with Cepeda.
