Chile Presidential Election
First Round Result - 12 December 1999
The first round in the Presidential election on Sunday 12 December 1999 was an effective draw, with no candidate winning an absolute majority. Joaquin Lavin, the centre-right candidate from the party bloc Alianza por Chile obtained 47.52% of the vote, against 47.96% for Ricardo Lagos from the governing centre-left Concertacion coalition. The first round culminated with major rallies by the Lavin and Lagos campaigns.
Other votes were spread between a Communist, a humanist, an environmentalist and an independent right-wing candidate. A run-off between the two main contenders was scheduled for 16 January 2000.
Lavin, aged 46, is a Chicago-educated economist, strongly Catholic and has been a popular two-term mayor of the wealthy Santiago suburb of Las Condes. As mayor, Lavin increased the police presence and ended notorious traffic jams. Lavin has authored several books which lauded the policies of the Pinochet Government of 1973-90 and in that time he worked as an economist in Pinochet's Planning Ministry. However in the present campaign, both candidates have avoided mentioning each others past political affiliations, instead arguing that it is time to look to the future. Lavin's party group Alianza por Chile includes the Renovacion Nacional party and the Union Democrata Indepeniente. His campaign has produced the strongest centre-right vote since the return of democracy in 1990.
Lagos, aged 61, is a lawyer and another US educated economist with a PhD from Duke university. Much of his work as an economist has been in academia, rather than the real world. When an attempt was made on Pinochet's life in 1986, Lagos was briefly arrested in a general round-up and then released. He then became a darling of the anti-Pinochet forces when he became a leading campaigner for the restoration of democracy. After Pinochet restored democracy, Lagos went on to become a minister for public works, amongst other government positions. His party, Partido por la Democracia (PPD) includes Socialist, Christian Democrat and Radical parties. He had predicted outright victory before the first round vote, then later blamed his first round failure on an economic recession which had produced a "disenchanted vote".
Unemployment has hit 11% and growth is expected to be negligible this year. Both candidates had promised similar platforms to end the recession.
Policy Platforms
The Chilean Communist Party obtained a crucial 3.2% of votes, but demanded that the centre-left Presidential candidate adopt leftist policies as a condition of their support in the January run-off. The Communists have accused the Concertacion coalition of adopting "neo-liberal" policies, since they took government in 1990.
Until the first round vote, Lagos has generally favoured the free market policies which have made Chile the leading economy in South America for the past two decades. Now the two Presidential candidates are competing over spending promises including health, education, housing, policing and farm aid. In the first round, Lagos miscalculated by emphasising less practical issues, such as constitutional reform (in particular he wanted to remove the Senate seat which General Pinochet has been granted for life).
Lavin has committed to create 100,000 jobs during his first three months if elected, and hundreds of thousands more. Both candidates have promised fiscal balance, interest rates below 3% and GDP growth of at least 6%.
Second Round Campaigns
Lagos was concerned not to publicly appeal to Communist voters, lest it revive memories of his support for the socialist Presidency of Salvador Allende. Likewise Lavin has distanced himself from Pinochet, arguing that he is above party politics. Promises have converged on areas of popular concern including job losses and crime levels.
Both candidates have announced that they will target the 800,000 voters who did not vote, rather than the 30,000 who voted for minor candidates in the first round.
Lavin's first round campaign was more successful at pasting posters along the country, whereas the Lagos campaign had been disorganised and over-confident. The Justice Minister has left her office to join Lagos's campaign for the run-off ballot, in an effort to win back female votes.
During the 15 months prior to the election General Pinochet was placed under house arrest in London and returned to the international headlines, because Spain has sought his extradiction from Great Britain on charges of alleged human rights abuses. On the Tuesday before the second round vote, British Home Secretary Jack Straw announced that a panel of doctors had concluded that General Pinochet is too ill to stand trial and stated that he felt inclined to send him back to Chile. However these events did not enter the Chilean Presidential race in a significant way.
Both candidates declared that if elected, they would not interfere if any Chilean court were to prosecute Pinochet. In Chile, there are currently 55 lawsuits against Pinochet, but most commentators concede that prosecutions will be difficult. Judge Juan Guzman who is hearing many of these cases says that "conditions exist for a trial" and that Pinochet's illness was not necessarily an impediment to prosecution.
At a time of economic recession the main priority in voters' minds has been jobs, leaving human rights debates off the agenda. Both candidates have presented themselves as figures of moderation, appealing to middle-ground voters who wish for an end to divisive politics.
Opinion polls on the eve of the second vote recorded a statistical dead-heat, with the results being within the margin of error. Both candidates agreed to withhold their internal party polling figures until after the final vote.
Second Round Result - 16 January 2000
Left wing candidate Ricardo Lagos won the final ballot with 51.32% of votes against 48.68% obtained by Joaquin Lavin. Lavin conceded the race on Sunday night, by visiting his opponent's campaign headquarters at Hotel Carrera to shake hands.
Lagos now becomes the first socialist President since 1973 when General Pinochet ousted President Allende. Turnout was similar in both rounds of voting, with about 7.2 million ballots cast in the first round and 7.3 million ballots cast in the second ballot from among 8 million registered voters. Isolated cases of violence between rival supporters left 29 people injured during the campaign, but this has been regarded as a peaceful election compared with tumultuous contests in previous years. Lagos will be inaugurated as President on 11 March for a six year term.
Previous Elections
This is the third Presidential election since 1990 when democracy was restored. Prior to that, General Pinochet had governed Chile after a military coup in 1973 which overthrew the reckless socialist government of Salvador Allende. In 1988 General Pinochet held a national plebiscite to decide whether Chileans wanted him to remain as President for a further 8 years (Lavin campaigned on television in favour of Pinochet). After Pinochet lost this plebiscite, he returned the country to democracy in 1990.
The last Presidential election was held on 11 December 1993, with victory going to Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle who obtaining 58% of the vote, against 24% for Arturo Alessandri. President Eduardo Frei, a Christian Democrat, was barred by a constitutional term limit from seeking a further six year term in the 1999 election.
Voting System
Some 8 million Chileans are registered to vote in a compulsory voting system. The President has a six year term and acts as Head of State, as well as Chief of Government. The bicameral parliament consists of 48 Senators and 120 Deputies.