(Adnkronos) – The left-wing coalition Unity for Chile emerged as the most voted movement yesterday in the legislative elections for the partial renewal of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies (seven senators out of 16 Senate districts and all 155 members of the Chamber of Deputies).
With almost all votes counted, the elections, which registered a voter turnout of almost 86%, according to data from the Chilean Electoral Service, allowed the left-wing coalition to obtain 32.2% and 30.6% of the votes in the Senate and Chamber respectively (61 seats in the latter). The elections were held simultaneously with the presidential elections, which secured the coalition’s candidate, Jeannette Jara, passage to the second round.
Behind the government party came the far-right alliance Cambio por Chile, which obtained 25.4% and 23.0% of the votes in the Senate and Chamber of Deputies respectively. Cambio por Chile includes the Republican Party of Chile, led by José Antonio Kast, a candidate who secured second place in the presidential race, and the National Libertarian Party, whose leader, Johannes Kaiser, ran for president, was excluded from the runoff and announced his support for Kast for the second round in light of the results. The traditional right-wing coalition Chile Grande y Unido, which obtained over a fifth of the valid votes, with approximately 24.3% in the Senate and over 21% in the Chamber of Deputies, where it holds 34 seats. (continues)
The right-wing Popular Party obtained 10.5% and 12.0% of the votes respectively, securing 14 seats in the Chamber of Deputies. The alliance between Greens, Regionalists and Humanists almost reached 4% in the Senate and 7% in the Chamber of Deputies, where it will obtain three seats, while the other parties failed to reach 1% of the votes.
These results reveal a palpable polarization, also evident in the presidential elections. On the one hand, the far-right has surpassed the traditional right, while the populist right is also gaining ground. On the other hand, within the Unity for Chile Pact, the moderate left of Democratic Socialism – composed of the Party for Democracy, the Socialist Party, the Radical Party, and the Liberal Party – has been surpassed by its allies: President Gabriel Boric’s Broad Front and Jara’s Communist Party.
