The presidential election in Chile, scheduled for November 21, will have renewed the participation of politicians from the left and the right, according to the results of the primaries held this Sunday (18).
Following a trend of constituent election, the traditional parties were defeated in the conflict. With 97% of the votes counted, the independent Sebastián Sichel, 43, led the election on the right, and on the left, Gabriel Boric, 35, which rose to prominence with the student protests in 2011. elections, which will define the replacement of Sebastián Piñera.
On both sides, there was surprise. On the right, the favorites were Joaquín Lavín, former mayor of Las Condes, and Ignacio Briones, of Evopoli. On the left, the Communist Daniel Jadue made his appearance. Both were defeated.
Voter turnout was low, however, with 19.9% turnout. In the Chilean primaries, voting is not compulsory and any voter can participate, without needing to belong to a party.
“It was possible. We are very happy. Millions of Chileans who struggled to move forward won. We talked to everyone, let’s do a good job with everyone,” said Sichel. Gabriel Boric, meanwhile, said that “it is a call to all young people, in November we need all of you, do not be afraid of young people”.
The elections in Chile saw a low turnout. The regional elections in June of this year, for example, had a participation of only 19.7% of the electoral pattern. The result was a stern defeat for the right-wing Chile Vamos de Piñera coalition. Of the 13 positions in dispute, they won only one: Luciano Rivas, in Araucania. The others had left with left or center-left parties.
Since voting was no longer compulsory in Chile in 2012, no vote has exceeded 50% of the turnout, with the exception of the referendum on the new Constitution, in October last year, where just over half of the voters —51% – went to the polls. . . .
The plebiscite, in which 78% of voters chose to replace the current Charter, inherited from dictator Augusto Pinochet, was a response to the intense protests that began in Chile at the end of 2019. Election of Constituent Assembly members in May this year, however, it did not reflect the fury in the streets, with a low attendance rate (42.5%).
Even so, the composition of the Constituent Assembly was a message to the Piñera government and to the traditional parties. Independent candidates won the most votes and won 65 of 155 seats. The ruling alliance, which competed on a single list, won only 37 of 155 seats, and the left, divided into two relations, won 53 seats.