New poll in Chile ranks far-right Kast first

A new poll placed this Sunday in first place in the presidential race in Chile the far-right José Antonio Kast, with a 22.2% preference, ahead of the one who until now was the favorite, the leftist Gabriel Boric, who would obtain 17.4%.

The Polso Ciudadano poll, carried out by the pollster Activa between October 25 and 29, placed the Christian Democrat Yasna Provoste in third place (9.5%) and, as a great surprise, the official and former minister Sebastián Sichel in fifth place (6.9% ).

In fourth place would be the liberal economist Franco Parisi, while the last places would go to the progressive Marco Enríquez-Ominami (4.8%) and Eduardo Artés, from the ultra-left movement Unión Patriótica (1.6%).

It is not the first poll that shows Kast as the first preference, ahead of Boric, a deputy and former student leader who represents the Approve Dignity collation, made up of the Broad Front and the Communist Party, among other parties.

According to analysts, the excesses during the protests or the recent migration crisis are some of the reasons why Kast has been favored, which has disseminated a strong discourse in favor of public order and hardening borders.

The current leader of the Republican Party, a formation that has only been in existence for two years, obtained 7.9% of the votes as an independent candidate in the 2017 elections.

Although he does not define himself as far-right, his guidelines on migration or social rights have led many experts to brand him as such and associate him with leaders such as the Brazilian Jair Bolsonaro.

The survey, based on 2,027 interviews with a sampling error of +/- 2.2%, also confirms the downward trend of Sichel, former minister of President Sebastián Piñera and who this week denounced “blackmail” by his own ruling coalition to veer right at the blazing rise of Kast.

Despite the relevance of the elections, less than half of Chileans are clear about their preference, according to the Center for Public Studies (CEP), in a country with voluntary voting and chronic abstention that in the last (regional) elections exceeded the 80%.

In the event that none of the candidates achieves more than half the votes in the November 21 elections – something that is almost taken for granted – a second round will be held on December 19.

The person who arrives at La Moneda (seat of Government) will have to redirect a country that experienced serious protests in 2019 and implement the norms of the new Constitution, which began to be drafted last July and which must be endorsed in an exit plebiscite , expected in 2022.