COLOMBIA: Senate And House Elect New Speakers For Santos' Last Year

(RTTNews) - The Colombian Senate elected Senator Efra?n Cepeda, from the independent Conservative Party, as its speaker for the next twelve months, while Rodr?guez Lara, from the Radical Change Party - a government ally - was elected as the president of the House of Representatives.

Cepeda flagged in his inauguration speech that he will support the consolidation of a peace deal between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), one of the biggest legacies of Juan Manuel Santos, the current Colombian president.

"I wholeheartedly affirm that I prefer the FARC in this area to discuss public policies than in the forest writing their arguments with bullets and bombs," said Cepeda, referring to the political integration of FARC members after the peace deal.

Lara also mentioned the deal with FARC, stating that "peace, this new reality, is something still strange and unknown for Colombians."

He added that lawmakers job now is to "clear that fear that paralyzes and send a tranquility message to all the Colombian people who trust in us."