Presidential elections:
The second round in Chile
19/11/2013
- Opinión
Chile was the most politicized country in Latin America, with the highest participation in political parties in the continent. This did not survive the seventeen years of the Pinochet dictatorship, followed by twenty years of moderate governments representing the Socialist–Christian Democrat alliance. In addition, a district electoral system was imposed, distributing seats among the major blocs, to the exclusion of other forces.
The student mobilizations led to a situation where the traditional parties considered the hypothesis of a reform of the electoral system, but as the mobilizations slacked off, the only result was the introduction of automatic electoral registration for young people, a measure that changed nothing, since there was a lack of interest. And, to make matters worse, the non-obligatory vote was introduced, which only increased abstention.
An over fifty per cent abstention, was the fundamental factor that prevented the victory of Bachelet in the first round. In the second round, on December 15, it will be known what proportion of votes will go to her and what will be the level of abstention.
Anyone who looks at the list of candidates for the presidency of Chile would not think that the military coup of Pinochet occurred forty years ago and that his regime ended twenty-three years ago. Michelle Bachelet is the daughter of a military minister of Allende, who died of a heart attack in prison, after six months of torture. Michelle was with him in prison.
The candidate of the right, supported by the neo-Pinochetist Sebastián Piñera, is the daughter of a military man, who was a member of the Military Junta of Pinochet. Marco Antonio Enriquez, the son of Miguel Enriquez, leading director of the MIR, was also a candidate, although he now has a moderate platform.
Since the coup there have been seventeen years of dictatorship, twenty years of governments of the Socialist-Christian Democrat Alliance and four years of right-wing government. Nevertheless, the platform of Bachelet reflects problems inherited from the dictatorship.
She proposes the convocation of a Constituent Assembly, since Chile still lives with the Constitution that Pinochet’s dictatorship imposed under the state of siege. While this charter has been reformed, any reform demands such a high majority of votes in the Parliament, that this necessarily involves agreement between the two blocks in order to approve important legislation.
Another of the key points of her programme is the raising of taxes on the wealthiest citizens, in order to strengthen social policies. Chile, which before the Pinochet dictatorship was one of the countries of the continent with the least inequality, has become one of the most unequal. Bachelet wants to counter this with more tax resources.
The third theme also involves the infamous heritage left by Pinochet and not touched to date: the privatization of Chilean Universities, a factor leading to the enormous student mobilizations, which deprived Sebastián Piñera of legitimacy. Bachelet has presented a plan to restore the public status of the Universities, over five years, since the funds for this are no longer part of the public budget.
Bachelet returns to the presidency under conditions that are significantly different from her first term. Her last year in government was the first year of the international crisis in the centre of capitalism. At that time she took measures to protect the most vulnerable -- as for example the elderly -- who had been left in the lurch by the privatization of health care, a measure that had not been overturned by the succeeding governments.
Since then the ability to respond to recessive pressures due to the crisis in the centre of capitalism has been strengthened in countries under governments that prioritized the regional integration process, but not in those, such as Chile, that had signed Free Trade Agreements with the United States. Bachelet has already indicated her desire to reduce the profile of participation in the Pacific Alliance and to intensify relations with the Mercosur countries.
The student mobilizations led to a situation where the traditional parties considered the hypothesis of a reform of the electoral system, but as the mobilizations slacked off, the only result was the introduction of automatic electoral registration for young people, a measure that changed nothing, since there was a lack of interest. And, to make matters worse, the non-obligatory vote was introduced, which only increased abstention.
An over fifty per cent abstention, was the fundamental factor that prevented the victory of Bachelet in the first round. In the second round, on December 15, it will be known what proportion of votes will go to her and what will be the level of abstention.
Anyone who looks at the list of candidates for the presidency of Chile would not think that the military coup of Pinochet occurred forty years ago and that his regime ended twenty-three years ago. Michelle Bachelet is the daughter of a military minister of Allende, who died of a heart attack in prison, after six months of torture. Michelle was with him in prison.
The candidate of the right, supported by the neo-Pinochetist Sebastián Piñera, is the daughter of a military man, who was a member of the Military Junta of Pinochet. Marco Antonio Enriquez, the son of Miguel Enriquez, leading director of the MIR, was also a candidate, although he now has a moderate platform.
Since the coup there have been seventeen years of dictatorship, twenty years of governments of the Socialist-Christian Democrat Alliance and four years of right-wing government. Nevertheless, the platform of Bachelet reflects problems inherited from the dictatorship.
She proposes the convocation of a Constituent Assembly, since Chile still lives with the Constitution that Pinochet’s dictatorship imposed under the state of siege. While this charter has been reformed, any reform demands such a high majority of votes in the Parliament, that this necessarily involves agreement between the two blocks in order to approve important legislation.
Another of the key points of her programme is the raising of taxes on the wealthiest citizens, in order to strengthen social policies. Chile, which before the Pinochet dictatorship was one of the countries of the continent with the least inequality, has become one of the most unequal. Bachelet wants to counter this with more tax resources.
The third theme also involves the infamous heritage left by Pinochet and not touched to date: the privatization of Chilean Universities, a factor leading to the enormous student mobilizations, which deprived Sebastián Piñera of legitimacy. Bachelet has presented a plan to restore the public status of the Universities, over five years, since the funds for this are no longer part of the public budget.
Bachelet returns to the presidency under conditions that are significantly different from her first term. Her last year in government was the first year of the international crisis in the centre of capitalism. At that time she took measures to protect the most vulnerable -- as for example the elderly -- who had been left in the lurch by the privatization of health care, a measure that had not been overturned by the succeeding governments.
Since then the ability to respond to recessive pressures due to the crisis in the centre of capitalism has been strengthened in countries under governments that prioritized the regional integration process, but not in those, such as Chile, that had signed Free Trade Agreements with the United States. Bachelet has already indicated her desire to reduce the profile of participation in the Pacific Alliance and to intensify relations with the Mercosur countries.
(Translation for ALAI by Jordan Bishop)
- Emir Sader is an academic with the State University of Rio de Janeiro.
https://www.alainet.org/en/active/69081?language=es
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