Far-Right and Left-Wing Candidates Advance to Runoff in Chile Presidential Election... "Most Polarized Election"

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suhwan] The Chilean presidential election has been narrowed down to a 'polar opposite' showdown between a far-right 50-year-old congressman and a left-wing candidate in his 30s who was formerly a student leader.

As of the point when the vote count exceeded 90% in the Chilean presidential election held on the 21st (local time), Jose Antonio Kast of the Chilean Republican Party recorded 28.01%, while Gabriel Boric of the left-wing coalition 'Approving Dignity' received 25.64% of the votes.

Franco Parisi of the right-wing National Party came in third with 12.97%, followed by Sebastian Sichel of the center-right coalition and Yasna Provoste of the center-left coalition with 12.61% and 11.74%, respectively, ranking fourth and fifth.

Jose Antonio Cast [Image source=AP Yonhap News]

In the Chilean presidential election, which adopts a runoff voting system, if a candidate wins a majority in the first round, they are declared the winner outright; otherwise, the top two candidates proceed to a runoff.

According to the current voting trend, as predicted before the election, Kast and Boric will face off in a runoff on December 19.

This election was held two years after the massive protests triggered by the subway fare hike in the capital Santiago in 2019 shook Chile.

During those protests, long-standing anger and dissatisfaction with the social structure that fostered inequality in pensions, education, and healthcare erupted all at once, and subsequently, Chile embarked on drafting a new constitution through a national referendum, placing the country at a crossroads of change.

The desire for change expressed in the protests was clearly reflected in this presidential election as well.

Gabriel Boric [Photo by Reuters]

Not only the leading candidates Kast and Boric but also the 'surprise performer' Parisi are all 'outsiders' who are distant from the traditional mainstream political circles.

Since the end of Augusto Pinochet's military dictatorship from 1973 to 1990 and the restoration of democracy, presidents in Chile have mainly come from the center-left coalition led by the Christian Democratic Party.

From 2006, the center-left government under Michelle Bachelet and the center-right government under Sebastian Pi?era alternated in power every four years.

This election, where the two major centrist coalitions have declined and candidates at both ends of the political spectrum have risen, is regarded as the most polarized election since democratization.

Kast, who is likely to come first in the first round, is a repeat candidate who also ran in the 2017 presidential election and received about 8% of the vote. He defends the economic policies of the military regime, saying that if Pinochet were alive, he would have voted for him.

He is often compared to former U.S. President Donald Trump and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

Kast attracted conservative votes at the last minute with a tough stance on immigration and crime, including plans to dig a ditch at the border to block illegal immigration.

Boric, a former student organization leader who led the 2011 Chilean student protests, promised reforms to the privatized pension system and increased taxes on the wealthy.

If elected, he will become the youngest president in Chilean history.

In runoff polls, Kast is ahead of Boric by about 3 to 4 percentage points.

The candidate finally elected next month will succeed President Pi?era and lead Chile for four years starting in March next year.

Since the constituent assembly formed as a result of the 2019 protests is currently drafting a new constitution, the new president will have the important task of holding a national referendum during their term to decide whether to adopt the new constitution.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.