Colombians head to polls to elect new president

By Lokman Ilhan

BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) - More than 36 million Colombian voters will head to the polls on Sunday morning to elect the country's new president who would rule the country till 2022.

The votes will be cast at over 11,000 polling stations across the country.

Voting will begin at 8.00 a.m. local time and continue till 4.00 p.m. local time; 115,000 security personnel have been deployed to ensure peace during the election.

Current President Juan Manuel Santos cannot run for re-election after having served the maximum two terms in office. Six candidates -- German Vargas Lleras, Gustavo Petro, Humberto de la Calle, Ivan Duque, Sergio Fajardo and Jorge Antonio Sarmiento -- are competing for the top office.

This is the first election after Santos had signed an agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels to end the decades-long insurgency in the country.

Nearly 100 international observers will monitor the elections.

Santos earlier urged his countrymen to go to the polls, which would be held without FARC violence unlike the last general elections held on March 11.

According to Colombian law, if none of the candidates win the first round of election with more than 50 percent of the votes on Sunday, a second round will be held for the two leading candidates on June 17.

The new president will take the oath on Aug. 7, and run the country until 2022.