SANTIAGO – Chileans voted in presidential elections yesterday, two years after protests that set the country on the path to constitutional change, with two men from opposite political poles leading the field of seven contenders.
It is Chile’s fourth election in 18 months, this time for a president who will be in office as the country drafts its first post-dictatorship constitution.
With half of the country’s 15 million voters said to be undecided ahead of yesterday’s ballot, it is seen as the most wide-open presidential contest in decades.
Coming in the aftermath of a popular revolt against deep social inequality, the election could continue the recent rout of traditional political parties that have governed over decades of neoliberal policy credited with Chile’s relative wealth, but criticised for forsaking the poor and working classes.
The two front-runners – a young leftist former student activist and a far-right ex-congressman – are not among the established coalitions that have governed Chile since the exit of dictator Augusto Pinochet 31 years ago.
The favorites were Gabriel Boric, 35, of the leftist Approve Dignity alliance which includes the Communist Party, and far-right candidate Jose Antonio Kast, 55, of the Republican Party – each with about a quarter of stated voter intentions.
Both are from minority parties not in government.
Centrists, including the candidate from unpopular President Sebastian Pinera’s party, proved the least popular in opinion polls ahead of the vote.
“We have to vote, the country needs changes,” said voter Felipe Rojas, 24. “We are bored with the same politicians.”
He complained of long voter queues in the capital, Santiago, on a particularly hot summer’s day, with temperatures exceeding 30° Celsius , saying “it seems as if they don’t want us to vote”.
For Cristina Arellano, a 42-year-old accountant, it was imperative to vote “to turn the page on the division and trouble in the streets”.
Polling stations opened at 8am local time (1100 GMT). Voters still queuing by the time they closed ten hours later, will be allowed to cast their ballots.
Results are expected within hours. – AFP, November 22, 2021
