By: Victoria Kurakata
In a highly polarised battle for Chile’s top office, leftist Gabriel Boric defeated right-wing candidate José Antonio Kast to become Chile's youngest president. Upon his victory, the winning candidate expressed his optimism for Chile’s future, vowing to fulfill his role with a "tremendous sense of responsibility” and to “fight against the privileges of a few." However, considering recent factors such as a wave of protests in 2019, a prolonged constitutional convention, and a global pandemic, it is clear that Chile’s new president faces significant challenges ahead of him.
The candidates
Gabriel Boric, a former student protest leader, ran a campaign supporting women's rights, LGBTQ+ communities, and indigenous Chileans. He also ambitiously pledged to undo many of Chile's free market policies, claiming that "Chile will be the tomb of neoliberalism." He proposed far-fetched policies such as the creation of a robust welfare state, raising taxes by 8% of GDP over two terms, abolishing private pension funds, and raising the minimum wage.
Boric’s rival, the right-wing José Antonio Kast, ran a starkly different campaign. Emphasising his ultra-conservative and Catholic views, he proposed policies such as abortion bans, continued neoliberal market policies, and building more prisons to establish a greater sense of law and order.
During the first round of elections in late November, out of 7 candidates, Kast received 27.91% of the votes, whilst Boric received only 25.81%. As neither candidate won a majority in the first round, the two candidates competed in a runoff election, during which Boric defeated Kast by over 10 percentage points.
A new era
The election marked a pivotal point in Chile's political history. It was the first time where centrist parties, which have dominated Chilean politics since the transition to democracy, earned less than a quarter of the vote in the first round of the election. Instead, voters flocked farther towards the left and right, indicating a growing trend of polarisation within Chilean society. Chileans' pivot away from centrism suggests that their discontent with the status quo supersedes their political affiliations, highlighting the difficult road ahead for the new president.
The road ahead
The recent protests in Chile, which began in October 2019 and ended in December 2021, revealed Chileans’ discontent with the current political climate. Despite decades of sustained economic growth, frustration vis-à-vis societal issues such as corruption, inequality, and raised costs of living compelled Chileans to engage in violent protest.
Chileans’ dissatisfaction with the status quo is further exacerbated by its constitution, or lack thereof. In late 2019, then-president Piñera announced plans to draft a new constitution; the previous constitution was criticised for its close ties to dictator Pinochet’s regime. However, virtually no progress has been made: the new constitution has yet to be fully drafted and ratified.
Perhaps Boric's greatest issue is that of the economy. Immediately following the announcement of his victory, stock markets fell by 10% and Chile's currency, the peso, fell to a record low against the US dollar. Many economists also question the feasibility of Boric's proposed economic policies, claiming that his government will be unsuccessful in reaching the tax revenue needed to implement them.
Finally, there is the issue of garnering enough political support to even pass any of Boric's proposed policies. Currently, the coalition led by Boric's party does not command enough votes in either house of Chile's National Congress. In the upper house, Boric's coalition controls only 6 seats out of 50, with the potential of another 16. In the lower house, Boric's coalition has secured 37 out of 155 seats, with the potential for another 37. In either house, Boric must garner support from other coalitions and political parties in order to successfully implement any sort of policy, creating another hurdle for the new president.
Many Chileans expressed excitement towards the results of the election, with thousands of people taking to the streets to celebrate. Although Boric's presidency has the potential to lead Chile into an era free of inequality and corruption, it also bears the risk of polarising an already-divided nation and hurting economic growth. In order for a successful presidency, Boric must juggle various social and economic issues as well as facilitate cooperation from various political factions. Regardless of whichever path Boric chooses to take, it is clear that the actions he takes as president will leave a lasting impact on Chile's political climate: either for better or for worse.
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