Runoff election must decide presidential race

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Chile: Runoff election must decide presidential race

The candidate from the left-wing government can still hold her own in the first round. In the runoff, however, her right-wing opponent is likely to collect a lot of votes and force a change.

Government candidate Jeannette Jara narrowly won the first round of the presidential election in Chile, but will have to go to a runoff in mid-December. The communist got almost 27 percent, as the electoral office announced after counting almost all the votes. The German-born right-wing politician José Antonio Kast received a good 24 percent in the vote on Sunday (local time). The two strongest candidates will now meet in the runoff election on December 14th.

Incumbent President Gabriel Boric, who could not run again for constitutional reasons, congratulated the winners of the first round. “In a democracy, the candidates who want to represent citizens in the municipalities and regions should be public officials with honesty, integrity and willingness to serve,” he told his potential successors.

The economist Franco Parisi caused a surprise, coming in third place contrary to the latest surveys. He was followed by the ultra-right Johannes Kaiser and the conservative Evelyn Matthei.

Despite former Labor Minister Jara’s victory in the first round, the ultra-conservative Kast from the Republican Party is now the favorite in the runoff election. Unlike his rival, he has a real chance of mobilizing the votes of his defeated opponents from the right-wing camp. “Chile is more important than the parties,” said the father of nine and devout Catholic.

His right-wing rival Kaiser admitted defeat and called on his supporters to support Kast. The conservative candidate Matthei also congratulated the winners of the first round of voting. “Our fatherland demands democratic responsibility, real solutions to our major problems and the ability to dialogue,” she said.

The election campaign focused on the issues of security and migration. Although Chile remains one of the safest countries in the region, crime has recently increased in some areas. It is estimated that more than 330,000 foreigners live without valid documents in the South American country with a population of around 18 million – the vast majority come from the crisis-ridden state of Venezuela.