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Sebastian Pinera, Billionaire and possibly next President of Chile
With Presidential elections in Chile slated for on December 11, 2009, the Concertacion coalition that has been at the helm of the presidency since 1989 finds itself in unfamiliar territory – losing power by elections. With the Left and centre-Left ‘pacts’ lacking unity on a national project or credible new leadership, the right-wing Alianza por Chile (APC) looks poised to build from its gains in the municipal elections in the fall of 2008 and elevate a right-wing candidate to the La Moneda.
The Showdown:
In previous elections, both of the main parties within the APC the National Renovation Party (RN) and Democratic Independent Union (UDI) have presented their own candidate in the first round and supported the candidate that reached the runoff election. This time around the right wing will present a unified candidate in Sebastian Pinera, the Billionaire owner of LANChile , the Colo Colo soccer club and a major television station. Pinera was narrowly defeated the current President Michelle Bachelet in a second round of the 2006 elections where she secured 54% of the vote.
The centre-left coalition that has governed the country since the return to civilian government in the early 1990’s, the Concert of Parties for Democracy or Concertacion has had to resort to resurrecting a former President after a several troubled years in government. With the most popular prospective candidates such as the Organization of American States President Jose Insulza and former President Ricardo Lagos not interested in running the Christian Democrats, the Party for Democracy (PPD) and the Socialist Party have nominated previous President Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle as their candidate. Eduardo Frei, the son of the founder of the Christian Democrats and former President Eduardo Frei Montalva was the second President under the Concertacion leading the country from 1994-2000.
The Concertacion has been experiencing significant turmoil, in spite of the high approval ratings enjoyed by current President Michelle Bachelet. Divisions have emerged between the parties within the coalition as demonstrated by the heavy criticism from key Christian Democrats in President Bachelet’s handling of her historic visit to Cuba in 2009. Also, key figures from within the ranks of the Concertacion have been jumping ship preferring to find other alliances to run under. Among those who have left within the last year include:
- Socialist Party elected member Alejandro Navarro who left the PS in November 2008 to form a new party called Movimiento Amplio Socialista (MAS)
– Former Allende Minister and Minister under the Concertacion from 1992-1999 Jorge Arrate who resigned from the PS in January of 2009
– Former Allende Minister Fernando Flores who left the Concertacion to form Chile Primero
– Current deputy and son of MIR founder Miguel Enriquez, Marco Enriquez-Ominami left in 2009 to run as an independent for President
– Former President of the Christian Democrats Adolfo Zaldivar who left the Concertacion and is now running for President under the banner of the Regionalist Party of Independents (PRI)
Arrate is now the Presidential candidate for Juntos Podemos Mas (JPM), a coalition of left wing parties that include the Communist Party, the Humanist Party and other smaller groupings. JPM garnered roughly 5% of the vote in 2006 and their decision to support Bachelet in the second round of voting in 2006 proved important. Navarro had also been a pre-candidate for the JPM ticket but left in protest saying that the JPM had decided to run Arrate prior to the primary votes taking place. He has recently indicated that he would back Arrate if the JPM starts to poll 7% higher than him.
The late-comer who has begun to garner significant attention is Enriquez-Ominami, who in recent polls conducted by major Chilean daily’s such as La Segunda and La Tercera has scored as high as 20% – many of these votes, coming from left-wing voters. Enriquez-Ominami, a young and charismatic filmmaker and son of a martyred icon of the Chilean Left could capitalize greatly on the broad discontent among left-leaning Chileans with the Concertacion.
Nonetheless, Pinera has maintained a lead in the polls over other candidates since polling began in the fall of 2008. The Chilean right made significant advances in the regional and municipal elections in 2008, and despite Pinera being hindered by his pro-Pinochet past he has maintained up to a 10 point lead on Frei.
(Dis)Concertacion
Despite Bachelet’s popularity, the Concertacion is increasingly being held accountable for what many regard as the lack of progress made by almost 20 years in the redistribution of wealth.
In April of 2006, hundreds of thousands of high school students virtually paralyzed the country demanding a rise of quality levels in public education and other measures such as free transit for poor students. Several months later workers at the world’s largest copper mine in Escondida went on work stoppages to demand a greater share from the high prices of copper.
Looking to respond to the outcries, Bachelet has attempted various cabient shuffles which have included 4 interior ministers, 3 ministers of the economy, 4 education ministers including one impeachment and two transport ministers.
The frustrations of Chileans towards the neoliberal direction is well illustrated by the disastrous implementation of ‘TranSantiago’, a public transport system for the capital Santiago launched in 2006. The major complaints about the system is the increased wait and travel times, due to an decrease in buses. This decrease in buses and service can be attributed to the decision to ‘streamline’ the transit system by making it completely self-financing. Then Minister of Transportation Andres Velasco bragged that “it’s a system designed with a financing mechanism and that mechanism is operating”.
Many observers would suggest that Bachelet has been forced to continue the policies of previous administrations due to the binomial system, which has made it impossible for the left to secure a sufficient majority to implement wider reforms. While there is certainly some truth to this, the results are that the ghosts of the Pinochet era are fading in the minds of Chileans who appear ready to elect the ‘Pinochetistas’ back into power. The Concertacion, which began as a coalition to remove a military regime has become an institution which has administered the state as determined by that same regime – neoliberal economics have continued, the constitution remains and the lives of Chileans continue to worsen as evidenced by the richest 10% of the households earning approximately 40 times that of the poorest 10% of the households.
As the Left finds itself in a crisis of direction and identity heading into the fall elections, perhaps a defeat would be an important reality check which can re-orient progressives back to the grassroots and to a national project reminiscent of its hay-day of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s.
Interesting article. Speaking of identity crises, does the (dis) Concertacion adopt the image or rhetoric of Allende as a form of self-representation?
By and large they do not. There is usually an attempt by the “left wing” of the Concertacion to mention Allende and his courage, but their policies have been mostly nothing like his.
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