In Chile, elections for the President of the Republic are held on Sunday, as are elections for the Senate and Chamber of Deputies. Eight candidates vied for the position of head of state: Franco Parisi, Jeanette Jara, Marco Henriques-Ominami, Johannes Kaiser, Jose Antonio Cast, Eduardo Artes, Evelyn Mattei and Harold Main-Nicholls. This is the order they are listed in the newsletter. The current president, Gabriel Boric, will not participate in the election because the country's constitution prohibits him from running for a second consecutive term.
This year, participation in elections in Chile is mandatory (exceptions are made for people who are sick, which must be confirmed by a certificate, people with disabilities, people who are abroad or at a distance of more than 200 km from their polling station, or those who face other obstacles, which must also be recorded). The country's government took this step because voter turnout in 2021 was less than 50%.
To ensure that all 15.7 million voters can exercise their right to vote, the government has drawn up a special plan that will abolish train fares and nearly 2,700 bus routes in rural areas on election day. Those who refuse to participate in the election without a valid reason will be fined from 34.7 thousand to 104 thousand pesos (from 36 to 110 dollars).
According to forecasts, it is practically impossible for the head of state to be elected in the first round. And most likely, the second round will take place domestically. By law, it must take place four weeks after the first. The battle will be between the two candidates receiving the largest number of votes.
The favorites are considered the representative of the Communist Party, Jeanette Jara, and the representative of the right-wing ultra-conservative Republican Party, supporter of Trump and Pinochet, Jose Antonio Cast. The study said they could get 30 and 22 percent of the votes, respectively. In addition, they can compete with National Liberal Party candidate Johannes Kaiser and Independent Democratic Alliance representative Evelyn Mattei.
This balance of power is confirmed by the first combined results after polling stations in New Zealand and Australia closed. These four candidates have a significant lead over the remaining candidates.
Hara is appealing to voters with a program to improve working conditions and support small businesses, and she plans to use the military to strengthen border controls, increase pensions, reduce energy bills and build tens of thousands of new homes.
Class promises to cut corporate tax rates, slash government spending and strengthen border controls to combat illegal immigration. By the way, he ran for president, but in 2017 he was not able to compete with the leaders, and in 2021 he lost to Borich in the second round.
Kaiser proposed abolishing several ministries, privatizing the state-owned mining company Codelco, closing the border with Bolivia and building camps for illegal immigrants with the aim of expelling them from the country. He also supported introducing the death penalty for certain crimes.
Mattei proposed increasing funding for law enforcement agencies, strengthening penalties for drug trafficking, lowering corporate tax rates, creating one million jobs and reducing “misallocated government funds.”
If the prediction is confirmed, Khara and Cast will clash in the second round. And here, according to experts, representatives of the right faction will have a higher chance of winning. In recent years, Chile has faced increased migration and crime. And when it comes to security, the right has traditionally had the advantage. During the election campaign, Cast relied heavily on US President Donald Trump's strategy in these areas. By the way, he has softened his views compared to previous years and abandoned some of Pinochet's ideas that he promoted in the 2017 election.
And the presence of an even more right-wing candidate, the liberal Kaiser (who even declared his readiness to support a military coup if similar economic chaos arose in 1973, when General Augusto Pinochet came to power), helped the Caste appear more moderate, attracting the attention of moderate voters.
