06/13/2021 8:33 PM
Clarín.com
World
Updated 06/13/2021 8:59 PM
The battle to
govern in the Santiago Metropolitan Region
, where more than a third of Chile's population lives, was the great struggle of the second round of the regional elections in which two left-wing parties faced each other, one centrist and the other more radical.
The winning candidate was
Claudio Orrego
, from the Christian Democrats (DC) in alliance with other center-left parties, representing a more traditional wing within the Chilean opposition.
Orrego prevailed by 52.3 percent against the 47.7 of his rival Karina Oliva,
from Frente Amplio (FA), a coalition that was born in 2017 as a renewed and more modern left.
The center-left will rule most regions of the country
.
Both parties, however, are opponents of the government of Sebastián Piñera, whose coalition, Chile Vamos,
only prevailed in the region of La Araucaria
. The 2,387 voting places enabled this Sunday in Chile for the elections to governor in 13 of the 16 Regions of the country closed their doors
calmly
before beginning the vote count that will complete the day.
More than 13 million citizens were called to vote, for which 40,382 polling stations were set up.
Little participation
The Electoral Service (Servel) of Chile has not yet provided data on participation, but it is expected to
be lower than the 43% registered in the first round of these elections
, in which the governor of three regions was already defined, and which held together with the municipal and constituent elections.
Concern for low participation marked the day, which took place at the height of the pandemic peak in the country, which for the third consecutive day registered more
than 7,000 infections,
and with the entire Metropolitan Region, the most populated in the country and in which it is located. the capital, in total quarantine.
During the day, various authorities and political actors
called on the population to go to the polls
and valued the importance of this election of governors, which is held for the first time in history to replace the current mayor, who are elected by the Executive.
"We have no experience (in the election of governors) so anything that we do to estimate at this time about participation is
an illusion without much basis
," the president of the Electoral Service, Andrés Tagle, told reporters.
Since voting became voluntary in 2012,
no election in Chile has exceeded 50% participation
, with the exception of the plebiscite on a new Constitution last October (51%).
Given the images that were seen during the day in the voting centers, with little attendance of people except for specific moments, some political voices began to ask for
the return of the mandatory vote,
even for the next presidential elections that will be at the end of year.
The election of governors is seen as a step
towards the decentralization of the country
, although their attributions will be limited and will be limited to territorial ordering, public goods, social and cultural development or entrepreneurship, among others, and it will not be until March 2022 that they will be able to ask for more skills.
Likewise, and with the presidential elections approaching, analysts
make a national reading of these elections
, due to the support that the political forces in each region will arouse and the bulwark that the new governors may represent to support the campaign to be chief. of the Executive.
The main focus of the elections is in the Metropolitan Region, which is home to 7 of the 19 million inhabitants of Chile, so the elected candidate will become the most voted authority in the country after the president.
Source: EFE and Clarín
PB
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