Right-Wing Wins Big in Chile

Chile’s municipal elections held on October 23 yielded disastrous results for President Michelle Bachelet’s Nueva Mayoria coalition. The elections, which precede the 2017 Chilean federal elections, saw numerous key mayoral positions captured by the right-leaning Chile Vamos coalition. Bachelet’s Nueva Mayoria, composed of the Socialist Party and the Christian Democrats, suffered in recent months as protests against it waged on due to a stagnant economy and pension issues. Bachelet currently faces an approval rating of about 25 percent despite being reelected with the largest margin of victory since the reintroduction of democracy in 1990.

Chile Vamos, led by ex-president Sebastian Piñera, managed to capture important swing districts such as Central Santiago. For Bachelet, the results are a cause for concern, indicating the likelihood of a coalition loss in 2017. Traditionally, the winning party or coalition in the municipal elections has gone on to win the federal elections.

Due to high levels of dissatisfaction with both major coalitions, the election was marked by only 35 percent voter turnout. Corruption scandals plagued both Nueva Mayoria and Chile Vamos recently. This includes both Bachelet and Piñera, who were under investigation for presumably receiving bribes from a fertilizing and mining company, although both denied the accusations.

The election also received criticism for its shortcomings in voter registration. As a result, nearly 475,000 people were mistakenly registered in the wrong districts, forcing the Chilean Justice Minister Javiera Blanco to resign.

Nueva Mayoria announced that cabinet changes are likely as higher-up party members seek to succeed Bachelet, who cannot run in 2017 due to term limits. The front-runner to become the next presidential candidate is Ricardo Lagos, a former president who is viewed as more moderate than Bachelet and is more accepted by the business community.

While the federal implications of these political changes will not be known until 2017’s elections, it is clear that dissatisfaction with Nueva Mayoria’s handling of the economy and corruption scandals has caused many Chileans to turn to the right.