Gustavo Petro was elected president of Colombia this Sunday, in the presidential runoff.    | Photo: EFE

Bogota, June 20 (RHC)-- Colombia's Finance Minister, Juan Manuel Restrepo, announced on Monday that President-elect Gustavo Petro will meet in the coming days with outgoing President Iván Duque to begin the transition process before the leader of the Historic Pact coalition assumes power.

After the historic triumph of the coalition candidate, the teams of both parties will meet to make way for a transition of power before August 7 when Petro assumes the Presidency of Colombia.

In this sense, Restrepo pointed out that "we have to give good faith and transparency of the information of the case, that it be a coordinated process."  
"For this reason, we are absolutely clear that, once the president-elect's empalme committee is defined, we will hold the corresponding meeting and organize the work tables entity by entity so that this empalme process is effective", he mentioned in an interview with a local radio station.

The minister commented that "for the moment what there is is a communication between President Iván Duque and the president-elect"; a call on Sunday night in which the president congratulated and acknowledged Petro's triumph in the second round elections.

"There (in the call) it was agreed that in the coming days there will be a process, a meeting. The date of the meeting is yet to be defined," he specified. 

"It will be the starting point of this important process and in that meeting, surely, the president-elect will define which will be his committee of empalme. I will proceed to work with whoever Gustavo Petro designates for that purpose", he added.

With regard to the teams for the inauguration, the Government appointed the Minister of Finance, José Manuel Restrepo; the director of the National Planning Department, Alejandra Botero, will also be there and Víctor Muñoz will be part of the presidential team," Duque said a few days ago.

Gustavo Petro was elected president of Colombia this Sunday, in the second presidential round, a day in which the voting margin was extended and close to 22 million people made use of their right to vote.