Chile's presidential election: What to look for?

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Chile, with a length of 4,300 km and an average width of 175 km, extends along the western seaboard of South America like a ribbon. As the world's largest copper producer, it is one of the most stable and prosperous countries on the continent.

On Sunday, Chilean citizens will choose the successor of the current president Michelle Bachelet. The election will also choose 155 members of the lower House of Congress and decide 34 seats for the Senate.

CGTN Photo

Who's leading

Sebastian Pinera, 67, representing the conservative Chile Vamos (Let's Go Chile) coalition, is the most promising candidate, according to opinion polls. The successful businessman, with an estimated 2.7-billion-US-dollar fortune, is expected to reinvigorate Chile's economy.

If he wins, he would return to run the country four years after leaving office, just like Bachelet. During his term from 2010 to 2014, the economy in Chile enjoyed an average 5.3-percent annual growth, compared with 1.5 percent under the center-left government of Bachelet.

The incumbent President Bachelet was not allowed to run again, as the Constitution bars presidents serving consecutive terms.

Chilean presidential candidate Sebastian Pinera and his wife Cecilia, attend his closing campaign rally in Santiago, Chile, November 16, 2017. /Reuters Photo

Marcelo Mella, the dean of the humanities faculty at Chile's University of Santiago, said Pinera will win "because the governments of the left weren't able to follow up on their promises and keep up to the high expectations that they had set up."

Chile's central bank lowered its growth projection range to 1 percent to 2 percent this year, and the annual economic growth rate was 4 percent from 2000 to 2017, a significant low for the world's top copper producer. Experts have pointed out that creating new wealth, rather than fighting inequality is Chileans' top concern.

In his campaign, Pinera promised to stimulate the economy with aggressive investment and tax cuts for businesses, and modify education and pension reforms brought in by Bachelet.

However, Pinera has to secure 50 percent of the valid votes in order to avoid a runoff on December 17. According to a poll cast between September and November, he won 44 percent of votes and his most competitive rival is center-left Senator Alejandro Guillier, who got 20 percent.

Guillier, 64, a former journalist and representative of center-left Nueva Mayoria (New Majority) coalition, on the contrary, vows to increase corporate taxes and continue with Bachelet's promises of social changes in labor and education.

Chilean presidential candidate Alejandro Guillier delivers a speech during his closing campaign rally in Santiago, Chile, November 16, 2017. /Reuters Photo

The other six candidates split the 20 percent of the polls. The third running is Beatriz Sánchez, representing the left-wing Frente Amplio (Broad Front) alliance.

Low voter turnout

Chile has changed from compulsory to voluntary voting and is one of the few countries in the South America region that does not have mandatory voting.

In 2013, Bachelet won the general election by 63 percent. However, the turnout was low at only 43 percent, which is nearly at the bottom for developed countries, according to statistics from the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.

The United Nations Development Program also published a report warning of a low voter turnout responding to a new Chilean ban on election advertising.

The electoral law limited outdoor advising, television and radio ads for this year's presidential election.

"I see this election as very cold compared to other times, with little atmosphere; people are worried about other things, I do not see that there is the effervescence that takes place in an election," Marcos Davila, a retired professor, told reporters.

According to AFP, many in the city have said they would not be participating in the vote as they believed it will make little difference to the election. CEP poll also found out that nearly half of respondents replied that they have no interests in politics in general.

A supporter holds a flag and balloons during the closing campaign rally of Chilean presidential candidate Alejandro Guillier in Santiago, Chile, November 16, 2017. /Reuters Photo

The result of a CEP poll conducted in September and October showed only 43 percent of Chileans are likely to vote.

The poll also found only 29 percent of voters identified with any of the three major political coalitions, Let's Go Chile, New Majority, or Broad Front.

Another rightward shift?

Pinera, the 67-year-old former president said the election could define the two different future of Chile. "Chileans face an important decision. They're going to have to choose between change or continuity," Pinera said on the last day for campaigning before the election.

Similarly, Guillier also expressed that the election could determine the two faces of Chile.

"This is an election to define the two Chiles," Guillier said. "Support for education, health care and rights, or a return to the market."

A worker carrying a voting booth walks past a Chilean Army soldier inside a polling station in Santiago, Chile, November 17, 2017. /Reuters Photo

The dominant issue in this election is whether the country will hold a constituent assembly to change the Constitution, which was created in Pinochet-era.

The left-wing parties are actively pushing forward for proposals of beginning Constituent Assembly to address the main social issues that influence young people, workers and families.

After the end of military dictatorship in 1990, the country's center-left parties have won four of five past elections. The right-wing only won once, when Pinera succeeded in 2010's general election.

If Pinera wins, this would mark another rightward shift in the region following the rise of conservative leaders in Argentina, Brazil and Peru.

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