Elections in Chile: Kast will go to court if the result is narrow

The candidate José Antonio Kast said that if the result of the elections is very narrow, with a difference between the two candidates of less than 50,000 votes, the presidential elections could be “resolved in the electoral tribunals.”

“It is a narrow election, we have to wait for the result. One result is the one issued by the Servel (Electoral Service), but if that result is very narrow, clearly the proxies at the table have a role and this could be resolved in electoral courts “, said the leader of the Republican Party after voting in the south of Santiago.

Kast, 55, who won the first round in November with just two points of difference (27.9%), is contesting the Chilean Presidency against the former student leader and left-wing deputy Gabriel Boric, who reached 25.8%.

The latest polls gave Boric to win, linked to the social demands emanating from the 2019 revolts and defender of a welfare state similar to the European one, but experts warn that the result will be counted vote by vote and will depend on participation, that in the first round it barely reached 50% of the standard.

More than 15 million Chileans are called to vote this Sunday in the most uncertain and momentous elections in decades, with the two most disparate proposals faced at the polls since the return to democracy in 1990.

Kast defends the neoliberal economic model installed during the military dictatorship (1973-1990) and promises a strong hand against violence and illegal migration, ensuring that he is “prepared for any result.”

“I always say that winning I win and losing I also win, because we have recovered the political balance in the nation”, stated in statements to the media.

closet, who already participated in the 2017 presidential elections – barely got 8% of the votes and did not go to the ballot -, has moderated his speech to attract the center, but continues to oppose abortion, same-sex marriage and wants to return to Chile “the lost peace” after the riots of 2019.

“For me it would be a great honor to direct the destinies of the nation. There are legitimate differences, but we must work for dialogue and reunion and that is done on the basis of justice, order and security ”, Indian closet, who has the support of the ruling right wing.

A deputy for 16 years and a militant for two decades in the Independent Democratic Union (UDI), his main supporters are in the north, where there has been a migration crisis for months after the arrival of thousands of Venezuelans, and in the south, where there is a historical territorial conflict between the Mapuche people and forestry companies.

Among the main challenges for the future will be to channel the social crisis that continues to exist since the 2019 protests; to lead the implementation of the norms of the new Constitution -in case they are approved in an exit plebiscite-, and to face the economic challenges left by the pandemic.

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