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Bachelet and Matthei will face-off
for Chilean presidency
CONFIRMING forecasts based on opinion polls, former
President Michelle Bachelet imposed herself in the
first round of the Chilean elections on November 17,
with close to 47% of votes cast and an advantage of
20-plus points over her immediate rival and
right-wing government representative Evelyn Matthei,
who obtained 25% of the vote.
With
this result, the two women go forward to a second
round on December 15 to determine the future
president of Chile, which polls agree will be
Bachelet, the candidate of the Coalición Nueva
Mayoría and the Communist Party.
“We
knew that it was a complex scenario, considering the
large number of candidates and the first-time
voluntary vote, but we have won this election and we
did so with an ample majority. We are going to work
to win by a wide margin in December and I don’t have
any doubt that we are going to do so,” commented
Michelle Bachelet, speaking from the Santiago de
Chile’s San Francisco Hotel shortly after the first
results were announced.
The
disappointed Chilean right took these results with a
certain aplomb, as it was doubtful that its
representative, Evelyn Matthei, would even qualify
for the second round. From her campaign headquarters
in the Continental Hotel, the government Alianza por
Chile candidate affirmed that she was very moved.
“When this electoral process began many people
thought that we wouldn’t make it, but here we are.
Winning a second round is, doubtless a triumph,
because we started out in adverse conditions, very
late.”
The
fierce dispute for third place between right-wing
populist Franco Parisi and Marco Enríquez-Ominami,
leader of the Partido Progresista, ended with just
over 10% each, one of the key events which forced
the second round.
Analysts have noted the high abstention rate. In
this context, Chilean President Sebastián Piñera
recalled, “Slightly more than 6.6 million Chileans
have voted with close to 12 million registered. The
elections are dignified by 56% of the population
having participated, while the rest, 44% have not
participated.”
Piñera noted, “While voting in Chile is voluntary,
in order that Chileans vote based on conviction and
not for fear of a fine, it is a fact that all
freedoms are always associated with a
responsibility.”
RESULTS OF CONGRESS ELECTIONS
These elections involved 120 seats in the Chamber of
Deputies and 20 among the Senate’s total of 38.
The
Nueva Mayoria center-left alliance, headed by former
President Bachelet, won a simple majority in the
Chilean Chamber of Deputies and Senate, according to
the first round results.
The
Nueva Mayoría, comprising socialists, social
democrats, Christian Democrats and Communists,
obtained 70 seats in a body which has been
completely renewed, and increased by 13.
The
right-wing Unión Democrática Independiente (UDI)
party lost the most deputies, with a drop from 38 to
29.
In
the Senate, which was partially renewed, the Nueva
Majoria now has 21 senators, the right-wing
governing party Alianza por Chile, 16, and one
independent senator.
The
student leaders who ran as candidates for deputies
merit a mention apart, given that five have become
parliamentarians. This was the case with the former
presidents of the University of Chile Students’
Federation, Camila Vallejo and Gabriel Boric; the
former president of the Catholic University
Students’ Federation Giorgio Jackson; and Karol
Cariola, former president of the University of
Concepción Students’ Federation, and president of
the Young Communists. (SE)
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