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News > Chile

Chile: Right, Center Left Parties Collapse Before Primaries

  • Chile's Congress headquarters, where will take place the drafting of  the new constitution.

    Chile's Congress headquarters, where will take place the drafting of the new constitution. | Photo: Twitter/@Senado_Chile

Published 19 May 2021
Opinion

A group of political organizations withdrew their candidates on Wednesday, seeking alliances with others amid political chaos and fears of a growing progressive force as communist leader Daniel Jadue becomes the favorite among probable voters, according to the latest poll.
 

Chile's presidential race has also been impacted by the tectonic change of the political landscape following Sunday's constitutional convention elections. A group of political organizations withdrew their candidates on Wednesday, seeking alliances with others amid political chaos and fears of a growing progressive force.

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May 19 was the last day for political parties to sign up the presidential pre-candidates for the primary elections on July 18. The current senator and Christian Democratic Party candidate Ximena Rincón resigned today after being asked by the head of her party to do so.

"I will not be an obstacle so that the Christian Democratic Party can form the alliances that it considers necessary for the electoral challenges that lie ahead, and on which the future and well-being of Chileans depend," Rincón said.

"After a weekend of elections, we already know the Constitutional Convention members who will draft the New Constitution. What's next?"

The Party for Democracy also withdrew his candidate Heraldo Muñoz and decided to support the Socialist Party's candidate Paula Narváez. "I have always been for the broadest unity, and that leads me to reaffirm this support," Muñoz said.

Paula Narváez, a former minister during Michelle Bachelet's government and cast by the former Chilean president for the Socialist Party's candidacy, also has the support of the Liberal Party and the New Deal organization as candidate Pablo Vidal resigned this morning as well.

"What this merger means is to be able to carry out an increasingly large and collective project, with increasing force," Vidal said.

On Sunday, Chilean people decided who would write their new constitution, an electoral day marked by the massive support for progressive forces. On the other hand, the right lost the one-third percent of representation required to veto any decision on the future draft.

These traditional right-wing or center-left political forces that lost massively include the Socialist Party, the Party for Democracy, and the Liberal Party, which pursued an alliance today.

On the other hand, Chile's Communist Party is emerging as one of the most potent political organizations ahead of the presidential elections, alongside the Broad Front (Frente Amplio). According to the latest poll on Wednesday by Pulso Ciudadano, the candidate and Recoleta municipality mayor Daniel Jadue leads public preferences, followed by right-wing candidate Joaquin Lavin. 

Furthermore, Jadue is the candidate that probable voters would support the most.


  

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