Monday, December 20, 2021
Boric wins the runoff election
35-year-old leftist will rule Chile in the future
In the run-off election for the presidency in Chile, the right-wing boxer has to surrender to the ex-student leader Boric. In the first ballot, the German-born Kast was ahead. Many consider the decision to be the most important choice since the country returned to democracy.
Former student leader Gabriel Boric was elected President of Chile at the age of 35. The candidate for the left-wing electoral alliance “Apruebo Dignidad” (“I agree to the dignity”) came in the runoff election after counting 99.5 percent of the votes to 55.9 percent. His right-wing rival José Antonio Kast, whose family has German roots, received 44.1 percent and acknowledged his defeat: “I have just spoken to Gabriel Boric and congratulated him on his great triumph,” wrote Kast on Twitter. “As of today he is the elected President of Chile.”
Due to the huge political gap between the two candidates, the election was considered to be the most important choice since Chile’s return to democracy in 1990. Boric had led the student protests in Chile in 2011 and was second just behind Kast in the first ballot four weeks ago. Recent polls, however, saw him slightly ahead of the 55-year-old from the Republican Party.
Boric has promised public education and better health care, and is also committed to the rights of migrants, indigenous peoples and homosexuals. Kast, on the other hand, had promised his voters tax cuts, a border trench against illegal immigration and crackdown on criminals. The father of nine and a devout Catholic is considered a sympathizer of the former dictator Augusto Pinochet. In total, around 15 million people were eligible to vote in the South American country.
Chile is considered a shining example in the region. The country has the highest per capita income in South America, and poverty has been reduced significantly in recent decades. However, many people still have problems with the great social inequality. Large parts of the health and education system have been privatized, and more and more Chileans feel left behind by the more privileged part of society.