Chile is gearing up for a presidential runoff election on December 14th, following a fiercely contested first round of voting that revealed a profound divide between the left and right wings of the country’s political spectrum. The election, held yesterday, Sunday, November 16th, failed to produce a clear winner, necessitating a second round.<\/p>\n
Former Labor Minister, Jeanette Jara<\/strong>, the 51-year-old candidate representing the ruling center-left coalition, secured 26.8% of the vote after nearly 100% of ballots were tallied. While leading the pack, she fell short of the 50% threshold required to win outright in the first round.<\/p>\n Trailing behind Jara is Jos\u00e9 Antonio Kast<\/strong>, a 59-year-old far-right former congressman and devout Catholic, who garnered 24% of the vote. Kast’s strong showing underscores the appeal of his law-and-order platform, particularly amidst rising organized crime rates that have shaken Chile, once considered one of Latin America’s safest nations, and fueled anti-immigrant sentiments among the Chilean populace.<\/p>\n Economist Franco Parisi<\/strong>, a right-wing populist with a substantial social media following, came in third with 20% of the vote. Johannes Kaiser<\/strong>, a radical libertarian and former YouTube agitator elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 2021, received 13.9% of the vote.<\/p>\n This year marked Chile’s first mandatory voting election since 2012, adding approximately 5 million new voters to the electorate. In addition to choosing a new president, voters also cast ballots for members of the Chamber of Deputies and half of the Senate.<\/p>\n Chile’s constitution prohibits consecutive presidential terms, preventing current leftist President Gabriel Boric, whose term ends in March and who became Chile’s youngest president at 36 years old, from seeking re-election. <\/p>\n Upon learning of his advancement to the runoff, Kast urged the country’s divided right-wing factions to unite behind him, framing the upcoming election as an “existential battle for the future of Chile.”<\/em> He addressed his supporters, stating, “This will be the most important election of our generation; a true referendum between two models of society.”<\/p>\n