RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Renovación Nacional party announced on Thursday (25) its support for the candidacy of political conservative and economic liberal José Antonio Kast, which has succeeded in uniting all coalition forces of the Chilean ruling party before the second round Chilean presidential election in December.
“We are going to give the best of Renovación Nacional (…) so that on December 19 we can celebrate those of us who watch over freedom and the bases of institutionality”, said the president of that party, Francisco Chahuan, leading Kast to add the support of all the local right wing.
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Kast, of the conservative Republicanos Party, won last Sunday’s first round of elections with 27.9% of the votes and will dispute a run-off election on December 19 with the leftist deputy Gabriel Boric, who obtained 25.8%.
The coalition of the government of Sebastián Piñera was represented in the elections by the lawyer Sebastián Sichel, who came in fourth place.
The main pro-government party, the ultra-conservative Independent Democratic Union (UDI) -where Kast was a militant for 20 years- immediately gave him its support. This was followed by the Evopoli party and finally the Renovación Nacional party, which defines itself as a liberal right-wing party.
The support comes during a controversy generated by the hate speech of the deputy elected by the Republicanos Party, Johannes Kayser, who among other things, questioned the voting of women. He then resigned from his party.
On the side of Gabriel Boric, 35 years old, he also has the support of the left-wing opposition. He already has the support of the Socialist Party, the Party for Democracy and is waiting for the formal support of the Christian Democracy, whose president has already given him her support.
Also during the day he received the support of the president of the Medical Association, Izkia Siches, a figure who gained relevance in the country during the pandemic, who resigned her position this Thursday to join Boric’s campaign.
THE TWO CANDIDATES REPRESENT ANTAGONISTIC POSITIONS
Kast is against an abortion law and same-sex marriage. He has also said he will build a ditch to prevent the entry of irregular immigrants and proposes greater social benefits for married women.
Boric, of the leftist association Apruebo Dignidad – which brings together the Frente Amplio coalition and the Communist Party -, proposes the establishment of a Welfare State, with greater strength and presence of the government in the social sphere.