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Chile Votes in Bitterly Divisive Presidential Election Sebastián Piñera Wins Chile’s Presidential Election
(about 9 hours later)
SANTIAGO, Chile — Voters across Chile began casting ballots in a tight presidential runoff Sunday morning, choosing between a center-left candidate and a billionaire former president, and deciding whether to reverse years of economic and political overhauls. SANTIAGO, Chile — Chileans on Sunday gave former President Sebastián Piñera a new term in office, rejecting his opponent’s call to build on the social and economic changes set in motion by the incumbent, Michelle Bachelet.
The election pits Alejandro Guillier, 64, a journalist and sociologist of the center-left coalition New Majority, against former President Sebastián Piñera, 68, of the rightist Chile Vamos. Mr. Guillier favors continuing the changes put in place by the current president, Michelle Bachelet, while Mr. Piñera hopes to roll them back. Mr. Piñera’s victory marks the latest shift to the right in a region that until recently was largely governed by leftist leaders who rose to power promising to build more egalitarian societies.
The two candidates were neck and neck in recent opinion polls, a somewhat surprising turn of events given the results of the first round of the election, on Nov. 19. Mr. Piñera obtained 36 percent of votes that day, compared with 22 percent for Mr. Guillier; 20 percent for Beatriz Sánchez, of the leftist coalition Frente Amplio that was founded early this year; and 8 percent for José Antonio Kast, a far-right champion of the Pinochet dictatorship. Mr. Piñera, a 68-year-old billionaire who governed Chile from 2010 to 2014 — having been both preceded and succeeded by Ms. Bachelet — moved to the right politically as he campaigned for a second term in this deeply polarized nation.
The top two contenders in the first round, where turnout was below 50 percent, were eligible for the runoff. They have spent the past few weeks trying to reach out to voters on extreme ends of the political spectrum, in addition to voters closer to the center. His victory appeared inevitable during the early months of the race. But the contest tightened considerably. After the first round of voting on Nov. 19. Alejandro Guillier, 64, a former journalist and sociologist who vowed to build on Ms. Bachelet’s reform agenda, emerged as the second candidate in the runoff.
Chile’s presidential election is the first in a series that will alter the political trajectory of Latin America. Voters in Mexico, Brazil, Colombia and Paraguay will elect presidents in 2018. Chile’s presidential election is the first in a series that may alter the political trajectory of Latin America. Voters in Mexico, Brazil, Colombia and Paraguay will elect presidents in 2018.
“Chile is helping kick off a year of important elections throughout the region, and many of the divides seen there will be repeated in their own way in the races to come,” said Shannon K. O’Neil, a Latin America expert at the Council on Foreign Relations. “Today’s election pits not just the left versus right for the presidency, but also reflects a lighter version of the insider-outsider drama that is developing in Colombia, Mexico and Brazil.”“Chile is helping kick off a year of important elections throughout the region, and many of the divides seen there will be repeated in their own way in the races to come,” said Shannon K. O’Neil, a Latin America expert at the Council on Foreign Relations. “Today’s election pits not just the left versus right for the presidency, but also reflects a lighter version of the insider-outsider drama that is developing in Colombia, Mexico and Brazil.”
Although Mr. Guillier did not include all of Frente Amplio’s demands in his platform, many of the coalition’s top leaders have said they would vote for him to prevent a conservative, pro-business Piñera presidency that would roll back what they see as social gains over the past few years. Throughout the race, many voters in Chile expressed deep dissatisfaction with the political establishment and described their choice as one between the lesser of two evils.
Under Ms. Bachelet’s leadership, taxes on large corporations were raised to finance free higher education for low-income students; abortion in some circumstances was legalized; union rights were strengthened; and a new electoral system allowed minority parties and independent politicians greater representation in Congress. “We lack a person that sparks enthusiasm in the country,” said Julio Salviat, a university professor and former sports journalist. “We’re voting for the least bad one, not the best. We’re at a crossroads we shouldn’t be in.”
Ms. Bachelet also set in motion overhauls to replace the Pinochet-era Constitution and change the private pension system. Julio Preusser, 90, an engineer, agreed, but said he had come to see Mr. Piñera as the most palatable.
“Bachelet unlocked the constraints put in place during dictatorship and the years of transition,” said Roxana Pey, a spokeswoman and coordinator for Mr. Guillier. “Her reforms have made Chile more democratic and fair, and have inaugurated a new political period in our country, in which people have more rights and participation in decision-making. Guillier will continue this legacy.” “Guillier lacks a significant political trajectory,” he said. “I don’t know how he got to where he is. Piñera is better prepared. I don’t quite like him, but he’s the least bad.”
But much of this, according to the Piñera camp, has scared off investors and sent Chile’s economy on a downward spiral. Mr. Piñera has called the government “irresponsible and incompetent” for multiplying the public debt, and he has promised to reverse some of these changes and to jump-start the economy by reducing state bureaucracy, offering incentives to investors, reducing taxes on corporate earnings and spending more on infrastructure projects. Some Chileans expressed concern that Mr. Piñera’s policies would benefit wealthy Chileans at the expense of the middle class, which expanded during the Bachelet era, and the poor.
But Mr. Piñera has also hardened his line to cater to the far-right followers of Mr. Kast. He has vowed to halt the same-sex marriage bill Ms. Bachelet introduced, and wants to improve conditions for military officers imprisoned for crimes against humanity. “The middle class is always on the losing end, and with his victory there will be an economic project for those who have resources,” said Verónica Soto, a nurse at a public hospital. “It will absolutely be a pro-business government.”
He has described a future Guillier presidency as one dominated by the “extreme left” that would further derail a slow-growing economy, already hampered by the low international price of copper, Chile’s main export. After performing more poorly than polls suggested he would in the first round, Mr. Piñera made overtures to the far right, a small but animated base. José Antonio Kast, a conservative candidate and a champion of the Pinochet dictatorship, got almost 8 percent of the vote.
Many view the fact that center and leftist candidates captured a total of 42 percent of the vote in November as a stamp of approval for Ms. Bachelet’s policies and a sign they should be continued. But Roberto Funk, a political scientist at the University of Chile, cautioned that might not be the case. Mr. Piñera promised to halt the same-sex marriage bill Ms. Bachelet introduced in August and said he would improve the conditions of military officers serving sentences for crimes against humanity.
“Guillier only got 22 percent,” he said, “and the Frente Amplio votes were not in support of Bachelet’s reforms, but rather in protest of the New Majority and how it has handled them.” He warned that Mr. Guillier would empower the “extreme left,” derailing an economy that has been growing slowly and is grappling with the low international price of copper, Chile’s main export.
Critics on the left consider Ms. Bachelet’s overhauls too modest or ill designed, while the right, including business leaders, say they ruined the economy. The president has also been accused of lacking strength and leadership, criticism her supporters regard as sexist. Yet, the left retains substantial appeal in Chile. Center and leftist candidates captured a total of 42 percent of the vote in November, although some factions felt Ms. Bachelet’s reforms didn’t go far enough.
Ms. Bachelet is leaving office with relatively low approval rates, a far cry from the 80 percent she enjoyed after ending her first term in 2010, when she handed the presidential sash to Mr. Piñera. Mr. Guiller won 22 percent of the vote during the first round. Beatríz Sánchez, a former journalist who led the leftist Frente Amplio coalition, exceeded expectations, coming a close third with 20 percent of the vote.
Whoever wins the election on Sunday will have a difficult time passing legislation to advance their policies, as neither coalition will have a majority in Congress. “The Frente Amplio votes were not in support of Bachelet’s reforms, but rather in protest of the New Majority and how it has handled them,” said Roberto Funk, a political scientist at the University of Chile.
The November election — which also renewed the lower house of Parliament and half the Senate — changed Chile’s political landscape. For the first time since the country’s return to democracy in 1990, with the appearance of the Frente Amplio, politics will not be dominated by the same two coalitions, and the composition of Congress will be younger, more female and politically diverse. The vote appears to mark the end of the political career of Ms. Bachelet, a transformative leader who championed women’s rights at home and abroad and set in motion sweeping economic and social reforms.
The election also meant the demise of the centrist Christian Democrats, once one of Chile’s largest parties, which lost considerable seats in Congress and whose presidential candidate obtained less than 6 percent of the vote. She will leave office in March as the last woman leading a government in the Americas.
The country owes its new political makeup to changes Ms. Bachelet pressed, including gender parity in parties’ lists of candidates, a more representative electoral system and tighter controls on campaign finance. Under Ms. Bachelet’s leadership, higher taxes were levied on large corporations to pay for free higher education for low-income students; abortion in some circumstances was legalized; and union rights were strengthened.
But it is also a sign of traditional parties and politicians losing credibility as a result of recent corruption cases that have revealed illegal campaign financing, bribery, influence-peddling and illicit ties between big business and politics. And a new electoral system approved during her government loosened the grip on political power that traditional parties enjoyed, opening the door to greater participation by minority parties, women and independents.
Ms. Bachelet also set in motion a process to reform the Pinochet-era Constitution and the private pension system.
Mr. Piñera accused her government of scaring off investors, deepening the public debt and sending Chile’s economy on a downward spiral. He promised to reverse some of these changes and to jump-start the economy by reducing state bureaucracy, offering incentives to investors, lowering taxes on corporate earnings and spending more on infrastructure projects.
His government, however, will face significant hurdles in Congress, where his coalition of parties did not win a majority in the November elections.
As of March, for the first time since the country’s return to democracy in 1990, with the appearance of the Frente Amplio, politics will not be dominated by the same two coalitions, and the composition of Congress will be younger, more female and politically diverse.