Preliminary results released this Sunday evening (21) indicate that the second round of Chile’s presidential election will be disputed between the ultra-right candidate José Antonio Kast and the left-wing candidate Gabriel Boric. According to the numbers of Servel (Electoral Service of Chile), with 30.16% of votes counted, Kast had 29,05%, against 23.83% of Boric. The final round is scheduled for December 19th.
The race is now starting to be fought to get the support of the defeated candidates. Kast is looking to win over center-right and right-wing voters who voted for Sebastián Sichel (11.79%) or Franco Parisi (13.73%), while Boric hopes to count on those who favored center-lefts Yasna Provoste (12, 75%) and Marco Enríquez-Ominami (7.46%) or the leftist Eduardo Artés (1.39%).
The turnout at the polls has yet to be announced, but, according to Jaime Bellolio, a government spokesman, “the first reports show that the turnout has been very good.” Since voting was no longer mandatory in 2012, the country has collected high abstention figures. In the last regional elections, in which governors were chosen, only 20% of voters participated in the vote.
In the 2017 presidential elections, won by Sebastián Piñera, the index did not reach 50%, not even in the second round. The October referendum, which defined that the country would have a new constitution, also had low participation, 50.95% of the electorate.
Kast had already run for president in 2017, but that time he got just 8% of the vote. Its performance during the current electoral cycle has been similar to the previous one, until it gained strength in recent months, defending an anti-globalist, anti-immigration and anti-communist agenda.
The 55-year-old lawyer was part of the traditional right-wing Independent Democratic Union force. Disagreements with Piñera and party leaders, however, led to him founding, in 2020, the Republican Party, for which he is running this election. The ultra-rightist advocates reducing the number of ministries, sending troops to militarize the southern region of the country, where disputes between indigenous groups and farmers occur, and building a wall in the north to prevent illegal immigrants from entering.
Kast, who also intends to repeal the legislation that approves abortion in cases of risk of the mother’s death, rape and the unfeasibility of the fetus, considers himself an heir to former senator Jaime Guzmán (1946-1991), legal adviser to the dictator Augusto Pinochet and main architect of the Constitution promulgated during the military regime, which is still in force. Guzmán was assassinated by militants of a left-wing guerrilla group, and Kast’s brother Miguel, also now dead, was Pinochet’s minister of labor.
Boric, 35, in turn, appeared on the Chilean political scene in the 2011 student protests, which called for free higher education. After acting in the acts, he was elected deputy in 2013 and re-elected in 2017. The leftist, who lives in Punta Arenas, in the south of the country, defends the deconstruction of the private pension system and greater presence of the State in the economy and in access to health and education.
The lawyer is also in favor of recognizing the sovereignty and culture of the indigenous people, who represent 9% of the Chilean population. Although the 2019 protests did not have political leaders, Boric capitalized on the feeling of revolt of this segment of society that took to the streets during the period.
He is seen as a moderate leftist, with a history of being skilled at dialoguing and negotiating with politicians of other ideological hues. Among its supporters, however, are more radical left-wing forces, such as the Communist Party, which defends the dictatorial regimes in Cuba and Nicaragua.
The surprise so far is economist Franco Parisi, 54, from the Partido de La Gente, who appears in third place. The second time he ran for president —he was fourth in the first, in 2013—, the candidate did not appear in the first round, as he is in the US, and claims that he was unable to travel because he was with Covid. Parisi has taught at universities in Alabama, Georgia, and Georgetown.
Polling day was marked by intense heat and long lines in Santiago. At the Monumental stadium, of the Colo-Colo football club, family members of the elderly showed concern about having to hydrate them while waiting in wheelchairs. Due to the Covid pandemic, the voting time was extended —from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm—, but even so, there was crowding in the places visited by the sheet.
Waiting time, in some cases, exceeded an hour.
An extra difficulty in voting was the number of ballots that had to be filled out—one for president, one for senator, and one for deputy. They had to be folded by the polls, tagged, sealed and returned to the voters, who then placed them in the ballot box.
“There is a lot of desire to vote, so we are putting up with it all. Chile is experiencing a historic moment,” said Angelina, 55, who voted at a school in the Providencia neighborhood. Nearby, Arthur, 28, who was also waiting in a voting line, was not so happy. “They want a new policy, a new system for the country, but for that they need to better organize the election, without leaving us waiting so long.”
The elections take place in the midst of a political crisis scenario. The country is still experiencing the effects of the 2019 protests that left 34 dead and more than 2,000 injured. As a result of this tension, the population decided that a new Constitution will be formulated by an elected assembly this year. The wording of the new Charter will have to be approved in a plebiscite, next year, during the new presidential period.
There are also protests across the country. To the north, mainly in Iquique, demonstrations are rejecting the arrival of immigrants, mainly from Venezuela and Haiti. In the south, clashes between residents and groups claiming the sovereignty of the Mapuche Indians often result in acts of violence.
In the economy, the expectation is that the country ends the year with growth of 11% of the GDP, due to the resumption of activities after the periods of quarantine and restrictions due to the pandemic. Still, 2022 appears to be a difficult year. The country is expected to grow just 2%, and economists point to a recession scenario. The year ends with 6% inflation, double the target set by the government.
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