The independents surprise and the party in power is the big loser in Chile – Telam

The ruling party suffered a defeat in the election of voters

The ruling coalition Vamos por Chile suffered a serious defeat on Sunday in the neighboring country’s mega-election, even in the constituent elections in which he obtained 21% and was far from the sum of the left and center-left opposition of 33% and, moreover, the big surprise of the day, the 45% that all independents, with more than 76% of the tables scanned.

With these official results from the Electoral Service (Servel), the 155 conventional constituents, 48 will be independent, while the opposition will get 52, the ruling party 38 and the natives will share the 17 seats which were reserved for them.

This represents a difficult defeat for the identified candidates for the government of Sebastián Piera, but also for all the political parties since the independents are the big winners of the day.

The opposition, however, obtained more than a third: 53 voters. But it will be divided between the 27 on the left and the 25 on the center-left, nucleated in the old Concertacin.

These data confirm the dissatisfaction with the political class which became visible with the social outbreak of October 2019, the same that forced the Piera government to convene last year’s plebiscite which allowed the start of the process which ultimately ended with the drafting of a new Constitution to replace that of the dictatorship. marked by Augusto Pinochet.

The allies of the Chilean president did not do well at the polls

The presidential candidate of the official Renovacin Nacional party of President Sébastin Piera-, Mario Desbordes, drew attention at a press conference due to the low turnout in the elections and admitted: “There is no doubt that we are in defeat. , a defeat that should make us think ”.

From the opposition, Gabriel Boric, from the Broad Front, told TVN that “the binomial system is finished (…) we are very satisfied with the diversity”.

The Christian Democrats’ candidate for governor of the metropolitan region and spokesman for the center-left coalition, Claudio Orrego, said that “the right has been defeated and populism defeated” and claimed that “he it is not enough to have good ideas. They lack experience and know how to lead good policies “, in what seemed to be a message addressed to the independents who will join the Constituent Convention and will be the first minority.

Who would be her rival in what appears to be a second round for the governor of the metropolitan region, leftist candidate Karina Oliva, celebrated last night with a green handkerchief in favor of legalizing abortion: “Today, the people won ”.

The final number of conventional voters must await the end of the counting in each of the 28 districts because the allocation of seats will depend not only on the votes, but on the fact that the condition of parity between women and men is also met. obligatory.

In Chile, the D’Hondt system is used for constituent candidates, which consists of a proportional mathematical method, which aims to strengthen the representativeness of the delegates to be chosen.

Independent candidates were the surprise of the election

Although Chileans voted today to also elect a new elective figure – governors – and municipal authorities, the election that should define the country’s political future is that of the voters.

Their task will be to draft a new Constitution within a maximum period of 12 months and each regulation debated will have to be approved by two-thirds.

If these proportions are maintained, the right and center right will not have the right of veto in the articles contained in the new constitution since they do not win a third of conventional voters.

The opposition of the left and the center-left, on the other hand, would get the right of veto, but not the two-thirds necessary to impose their changes without negotiation.

Everything therefore indicates that the 12 months of debate on the Constituent Convention will be one of much tension and negotiation, a difficult process which, moreover, must be submitted to the outcome of a so-called “exit plebiscite”, in particular. which Chileans will vote again if they approve or reject Magna Carta at the polls.

If I win the “ Approve ” option, the new Magna Carta will be approved in Congress. If the opposite occurs, the current text, dating from 1980, drafted under the civic-military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990) will remain in force.

Although scrutiny is still nascent in the other elections for governors and municipal authorities, forecasts indicate that Piera’s ruling party will also suffer a heavy defeat, especially on the new map made up of governors from all over the world. country.

The election was marked by a low turnout, which was not expected due to the importance of the electoral event.

This is reflected, for example, by the 20.4% who participated on the first day, Saturday.

This election is historic since it was split over two days, with two main objectives, the first, to promote the electoral participation of citizens, and the second, to avoid crowds due to the coronavirus pandemic.