In the first round, each candidate was supported by one in ten voters. They have moderated their positions ahead of the December 19 ballot.
On Sunday, December 19, Chileans will have to decide between two very opposite candidacies, the leftist Gabriel Boric and the ultra-conservative José Antonio Kast.
Two options that since the launch of their candidacy were seen outside the moderate margin, with positions or support at the ends, but after going to the second round they have moderated their speech and several things of their plans.
According to Eduardo Arriagada, communication expert and professor at the Catholic University of Chile, both candidates have personal characteristics that allow them to turn around. In the internal left, Boric beat the toughest wing of Daniel Jadue, of the Communist Party, and now what he has done is integrate prestigious economists and public figures who had supported other more moderate candidates who lost in the first round and he has put a lot of gradualism into his program. “In other words, the ultimate goal (greater State intervention with social programs) does not change, but rather the gradual nature of the changes.” In addition to incorporating topics that I had not mentioned before, such as security.
Kast’s side has also seen that intention to seek support in the center, for which he included new economists after criticizing his economic program, improving it on tax issues, no longer lowering them.
“There was also a change in the issue of the treatment of women. Kast had a very low vote of women in the first round. He had said that he was going to end the Ministry of Women and now he is talking about reinforcing it and he had statements that were not respectful of the current situation of women and he has reversed them, ”says Arriagada, for whom the positions of both candidates look real because It is not that they are turning 180 °, but that their hard songs are still present and that makes them more credible.
An example of this is that Kast continues to maintain his proposal that in a state of emergency the public force can detain people in places other than prisons, such as barracks, something that has been very controversial.
Regarding his style, Kast maintains a soft and controlled speech, although in the first debate between them (on Friday) he was more aggressive, making a mistake when accusing his opponent of committing abuse in his university days, but it was an accusation of harassment was never formalized. At the end of the debate he had to apologize. The issue created more tension between them.
As for the candidates who lost in the first round, almost all have lined up.
Yasna Provoste of the center-left, who finished fourth, lined up with Boric. Another relevant figure of that trend who spoke out in favor of him is the former president (2000-2006) Ricardo Lagos. In addition to other figures on the left and figures with public relevance such as the president of the College of Physicians, Izkia Siches, who has been important in these two years of pandemic, resigned to support him.
The same thing happened on Kast’s side. The candidates and parties that competed against him on the right and center-right have ended up supporting him. Even the ruling party candidate, Sebastián Sichel (fifth in the first round), asked him to support him to include nine points in his program – referring to multilateralism, respect for human rights or not sending backward initiatives on minority and women’s rights issues- . The Undersecretary of Health, the doctor Paula Daza, who has been instrumental in the issue of vaccination, also left the government to support him.
In the case of the third in votes in the first round, Franco Parisi, who is a particular figure who usually summons very diverse people and whose political project is seen more as a company than as a candidacy, with very anti-political people, mainly class men medium and with a lot of presence in social networks; He said that he was going to do a digital consultation to see who he supported, even inviting each of them to an interview, but it was only Kast and Boric excused himself because Parisi has a maintenance debt of like ten years, which is why He cannot enter Chile and he campaigned through networks.
Outside of the political world, no greater positioning has been seen in a context in which the strong polarization and positions of each one mean that there is not much enthusiasm or comfort in joining. Although the world of art and entertainment always supports the left in Chile, while the business side supports the right.
“They are going to vote, sure, but they have not wanted to lend their image because the truth is that the two candidates generate mistrust,” says Arriagada, who puts as evidence of this that in the first round each candidate was supported by one in ten voters . That is why they are now forced to moderate their speeches to reach the masses.
Meanwhile, Renato García, a Chilean journalist specialized in economics, comments that beyond moderation there are aspects that continue to generate mistrust because of what was said in the first round. Although the composition of Congress, which will now be divided almost in half for each trend, and the rejection of a new withdrawal from the pension fund caused a decrease in the price of the dollar, less pressure on interest rates and increases in the stock market. The investment sector is waiting for the ballot to make more decisions.
The fact that each side does not have a majority creates the opportunity to reach agreement on many issues. A change with respect to the results of the election of the Constituent convention, which is currently drafting a draft for a new Constitution, in which the trend to the left obtained a majority.
“It was understood as a signal to the constituents that the voters will not be available to approve a constitution that has very radical changes. And on the other hand, that the next government is not going to have legislative support to promote a very radical program, ”says García.
According to an average of the voting estimates, Boric would be closer to victory, but something similar happened already in the first round and he ended up being more voted Kast. In any case, the dispute will be between the undecided and discouraged, since 53% of the voters did not go to the polls in the first round.
15 million citizens are called to the polls and the usual thing is that participation increases a little in the second round. (I)
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
