Last Sunday, as most of us were consumed by events following the deadly earthquake in Haiti in the northern Caribbean, a seismic political shift was also taking place, almost unnoticed, in the deep south of the continent.
Last Sunday, the voters of Chile ended 20 years of unbroken rule by the centre-left coalition known as ‘Concertación,’ when they elected Sebastián Piñera, the candidate of the right-wing Alliance for Change – yes, that is what it’s called – in a run-off poll against Concertación’s Eduardo Frei, a former president. Indeed, it was the country’s first democratic election of a right-wing ruler in 52 years and Mr Piñera’s victory marks another swing to the right in Latin America, following the electoral triumphs of Ricardo Martinelli in Panama and Porfirio Lobo in Honduras last year.
It is somewhat ironic that it is Michelle Bachelet who will have to cede power on behalf of Concertación, as she hands over the keys to the presidential palace on March 11 to Mr Piñera and the Chilean right, for the first time since Chile’s return to democracy after the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. For Ms Bachelet leaves office with a high level of public approval, almost 80%, and with her international stature, as well as Chile’s, considerably enhanced. In addition, she is the first female not previously married to a former prominent political leader to be elected president of a Latin American country and was herself tortured by General Pinochet’s secret police.
Mr Piñera is a Harvard-educated economist and billionaire, and even though one of his brothers was a minister during the Pinochet era, he himself has said that he voted against the dictator’s attempt to perpetuate his rule in Chile’s historic 1988 plebiscite. Mr Piñera ran on a platform of creating jobs and boosting economic growth and, in his victory speech, graciously gave credit to outgoing President Michelle Bachelet and Concertación for making Chile “much better than the country we received in 1990.”
Indeed, during the campaign, both Mr Piñera and Mr Frei appeared to agree on most issues, supporting the free market policies that have underlined Chile’s economic growth and cemented its position as one of the most prosperous economies in Latin America. It should be noted however that successive Concertación administrations progressively mixed free-market economics with social programmes.
The immediate expectation is that Mr Piñera, conscious of Ms Bachelet’s popularity and eager to maintain the stability of the Chilean economy, will not make any sudden moves to roll back the socio-economic model that has evolved over the past 20 years. If anything, it will be interesting to observe how he deals with the radical left in Latin America, against the backdrop of Ms Bachelet’s tenure marked by her personal charm and even-handed diplomacy.
Ms Bachelet herself has promised a smooth handover of power in the best interests of the country, while expressing the hope that her successor will maintain the path taken by Concertación in seeking a balance between economic growth and social protection, especially for the most needy in society including women.
Ms Bachelet, however, appears to have aroused the ire of some in the Concertación camp who believe that she did not use the advantages of incumbency to campaign strongly enough for Mr Frei. Nevertheless, such is her current stature that she is already being touted as a possible candidate in the next election four years hence.
For now, the parties of Concertación will have to forget recrimination, even as they analyze the reasons for their electoral loss, and focus on rebuilding and reinforcing their coalition in order to present the new government with a united and effective opposition and to position themselves for a possible return to power in 2014. Already, the Concertación brains trust is considering how to tap into the young and disaffected who voted for the maverick third candidate, Marco Enríquez-Ominami, 36, a former Socialist member of Concertación, who captured a significant share of the leftist vote in the first round of elections in December, because many could not see enough of a difference between Mr Frei and Mr Piñera.
With the generational change since 1990, young Chileans probably wish to look ahead rather than backwards. But all of Chile would do well to reflect on the fact that it was due to the constancy of the left in its opposition to the Pinochet dictatorship that Chile enjoys free, democratic elections, a tradition of peaceful transfer of power and economic growth with a heightened sense of social responsibility. Chile has progressed under its successive centre-left governments, which have bequeathed a mature democratic system, based on political stability, economic growth and social calm to the country. The real hope now in Chile is that the country will continue to progress under a centre-right administration.
