A Presidential Election Devoid of New Ideas

The Concertación (C)—the Concert of Parties for Democracy—the broad electoral coalition of center-left parties that defeated the military regime in Chile in a plebiscite called in 1987 by strongman Augusto Pinochet to determine whether or not he should remain in power, is in serious trouble of losing La Moneda in the December 13th elections as a result of three undeniable reasons: 1) the unappealing candidacy of Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle its presidential hopeful 2) the erosion over time of a sustaining raison d’être for a coalition that has held power for two decades, a stretch longer than the military dictatorship that it supplanted held office and 3) the natural fatigue that erode public support for parties that hold on to power for a long period of time.

All pre-election voter preference surveys place conservative billionaire Sebastián Piñera the Renovación Nacional (RN)—the National Renovation Party—standard bearer ahead of all three other presidential contenders but far off from an outright first round victory through an outright majority of the vote meaning that the outcome will be determine in a run-off election to be held January 17th. Piñera, a former Senator, who has amassed his fortune through involvement in credit card operations and LAN airlines, among several other business ventures—including the popular Colo Colo football club— that make up his investment portfolio, lost in his previous presidential run to current officeholder Michelle Bachelet, who defeated him in a runoff election in 2005.

Piñera´s front-running candidacy hovers close around 38 percent of the vote in a first-round contest, with Frei running at close to 24 percent, closely pursued by Socialista senator Marco Antonio Enríquez-Ominami a Concertación deserter running as an independent under the Nueva Mayoría para Chile (NMC)—New Chilean Majority—ticket who garners around 20 percent and the trailing Partido Comunista (PC)—Communist Party—candidate, Jorge Arrate, a former cabinet member in previous Concertación administrations, who gets approximately 7 percent of the vote.

Frei Ruiz-Tagle, of the Partido Demócrata Cristiano (DC)—Christian-Democratic Party—who occupied La Moneda from 1994 to 2000, is the son of a former president Eduardo Frei Montalva who anteceded Salvador Allende, the Marxist president who was ousted in a military coup by Pinochet. The Frei candidacy resulted after the candidacies of Soledad Alvear (DC) and José Miguel Insulza, currently serving as general secretary of the Organization of American States (OAS) failed to gain traction among voters. At that junction various names including that of former president Ricardo Lagos (2000-2004) were shuffled as possible candidates to succeed Michelle Bachelet. When the party finally settled on Frei, Enríquez-Ominami proposed an internal primary to select the candidate, a suggestion that was turned down by the coalition elders.

The campaign, which has been punctuated by the blasé response of the electorate to outdated, lackluster programmatic proposals of both major political forces, has served as a trampoline for Enríquez-Ominami a 36-year-old filmmaker son of slain Pinochet opponent Miguel Enríquez, leader of the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR)—Revolutionary Left Movement—and stepson of
Carlos Ominami a senator representing the Partido Socialista (PS)—the Socialist Party—who has chided the old-fashioned views of his three sexagenarians—Arrate is the oldest at 68, Frei is a year younger and Piñera is 60 years-old—and forced discussion of long tabooed issues such as same sex marriage, abortion and legalization of marijuana.

Meanwhile, Arrate who served in both the cabinets of two Concertación Presidents—Patricio Aylwin (1990-1994) and Frei Ruiz-Tagle—has provided levity in a contest he entered without any possibility of emerging victorious, appearing with his football kicking dog in his television propaganda spots where he openly targets all other candidates as “more of the same” brand of politics that needs an urgent overhaul.

Notwithstanding the incessant NMC electoral putsch and the fun theatrics of Arrate irreverent campaign the campaign strategists of the former Concertación comrades-in-arms have begun behind the scenes meetings in an attempt to craft a second round coalition that will help either Frei or Enríquez-Ominami—whomever of the two make it to the ballotage runoff in January—overcome the Piñera lead. It is unknown whether such last-minute efforts will work but it is the only hope that the Concertación has of retaining power.