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News > Latin America

Chile's Polls Close as Piñera, Guillier Face-Off In Chilean Presidential Election

  • The decisive December 17 presidential run-off election, which will force a majority winner, could mark a pivotal moment in Leftist politics across the region.

    The decisive December 17 presidential run-off election, which will force a majority winner, could mark a pivotal moment in Leftist politics across the region. | Photo: Reuters

Published 16 December 2017
Opinion

The decisive December 17 presidential run-off election, which will force a majority winner, could mark a pivotal moment in Leftist politics across the region.

The run-off election in Chile, between independent left-wing presidential hopeful Alejandro Guillier and right-wing businessman and former president Sebastian Piñera, could herald a new era for the South American country. 

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Voters will, not only select a new president, but, also cast ballots to elect 23 senators, 155 deputies and 278 regional council members. This run-off stage will force a majority winner, though national pollsters say the race will be tight.

During the first round of elections on November 19, less than 50 percent of registered voters made their way to Chile's polling centers. Piñera, 67, led with 36 percent, while center-left challenger Sen. Alejandro Guillier, a 64-year-old former journalist, secured 22 percent of votes. 

In a rare move, Chile's umbrella Left has joined forces to defeat Piñera, who many consider as being a representative of the elitist domination, and are instead throwing their weight behind Guillier. 

The senator's main challenge is distancing himself from the current administration, which had a dismal approval rating of just 25 percent in late August. 

Since the passing of the military dictatorship under General Pinochet, Chile's electoral landscape has been largely fragmented, with many governments comprised of coalitions. The decisive December 17 election could mark a pivotal moment for the Latin American Left.

One of the key issues dominating discussions in this election is the economy. Chile has registered its slowest rate of economic growth since 2009, expanding only 0.5 percent in the first half of 2017, according to political scientist Patricio Navia. 

Pension and education reforms are also high on the national agenda, along with the rewriting of the Pinochet-era Constitution.

A survey conducted at the end of November by Criteria Research regarding the Chilean elections asked: "For which of these candidates would you vote?" Forty-seven percent of those polled favored Piñera, while 45 percent favored Guillier. 

Another eight percent declared they would cast a blank vote. A more recent poll, according to El Tiempo, shows that 21.4 percent of Chileans are still unsure who they will vote for.

Mauricio Morales, director of the Center of Analysis at the University of Talca, said: "This is one of biggest margins of uncertainty we've seen since the return to democracy."

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Without the presence of leftist candidate Beatriz Sanchez from the Broad Front coalition, who gained over 20 percent of votes in the first round of elections, pundits feel her supporters will side with Guiller on Sunday.

Guiller also got a campaign boost this week when he was endorsed by the leftist former president of Uruguay, Jose 'Pepe' Mujica, as well as left-leaning former candidates eliminated in the first round: Gabriel Boric and Giorgio Jackson.

Piñera, president from 2010 to 2014, has campaigned to implement neoliberal reforms, including laying off tens of thousands of public servants and closing down the Employment and Training Office. 

During a live national debate last Monday that focused on topical issues such as public safety and education, Piñera said that during his time in office, crime and drug trafficking was suppressed, but that it has increased since outgoing President Michelle Bachelet took office.

Chile's center-Left parties have led the country in the past four elections, with the right wing and Centrists winning once in 2010, where Piñera received a majority of the votes. 
 

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