2013 Chilean general election


General elections were held in Chile on 17 November 2013, including presidential, parliamentary and regional elections. Voters went to the polls to elect:
All the newly elected authorities began their terms on 11 March 2014.
In the presidential election, former president Michelle Bachelet fell short of the absolute majority needed for an outright win. In the runoff election, held on 15 December, she beat former senator and Minister of Labor Evelyn Matthei with over 62% of the vote, with turnout significantly lower than in the first round.
In the parliamentary elections, the New Majority coalition won back control of both chambers of Congress, winning 12 of the 20 contested seats in the Senate, for a total of 21 out of 38 total seats, and 67 of the 120 seats in the Chamber of Deputies.
These were the first presidential and parliamentary elections in which all eligible voters were automatically enrolled, and where voting was no longer mandatory. Members of the regional boards were directly elected for the first time.

Timeline

Notable events and dates.
In December 2012 a law was published allowing political parties or coalitions to define their candidates for president in government-run primary elections. The two main political groups agreed to choose their candidates this way. Former president Michelle Bachelet won the New Majority primary with 73% of the vote, while former senator and minister Pablo Longueira won the Alliance primary with 51%. Longueira subsequently quit the race and was replaced with Evelyn Matthei. Sitting president Sebastián Piñera did not stand for re-election due to term limits.

Presidential candidates

List of candidates who officially registered their candidacies at the Electoral Service. All candidacies were accepted on 28 August 2013. Bachelet's candidacy was automatically accepted after she was proclaimed the winner of her primary by the Election Court.
CandidateEndorsementRemarks

Michelle Bachelet
Socialist Party		 New Majority:
The former President from 2006 to 2010 became the New Majority candidate after beating three other candidates in a coalition primary held on 30 June 2013. For further details, see Chilean presidential primaries, 2013.

Marcel ClaudeHumanist Party		 Everybody to La Moneda:
  • Humanist Party
  • United Left
The leftist economist and university professor launched his candidacy on 26 January 2013. On 12 March 2013 he was proclaimed by the Humanist Party as their candidate. He officially registered his candidacy at the Electoral Service on 12 August 2013.

Marco Enríquez-OminamiProgressive Party		 If You Want It, Chile Changes:
The 2009 candidate launched his candidacy on 4 October 2012 at a theater in Santiago. On 5 May 2013, he was proclaimed as candidate by the Allendist Socialism movement. On 15 June 2013, he was proclaimed as candidate by the Liberal Party and on 13 July 2013 by the Progressive Party. He officially registered his candidacy at the Electoral Service on 17 August 2013.

Ricardo IsraelRegionalist Party of the Independents		Regionalist Party of the IndependentsThe political scientist was proclaimed by the Regionalist Party of the Independents on 20 July 2013. He officially registered his candidacy at the Electoral Service on 14 August 2013.

Tomás Jocelyn-Holt
Independent		Independent electorsFormer Christian Democrat deputy and former member of the Liberal Party. On 9 December 2012, the PL decided to withdraw their support for his candidacy. He officially registered his independent candidacy at the Electoral Service on 19 August 2013.

Evelyn Matthei
Independent Democratic Union		 Alliance:
The former senator and Labor minister was picked as candidate by her party's political commission on 20 July 2013, replacing Pablo Longueira who had quit the race three days earlier. She was formally proclaimed as candidate by both UDI and National Renewal on 10 August 2013. She officially registered her candidacy at the Electoral Service on 18 August 2013. For further details, see Chilean presidential primaries, 2013.

Roxana MirandaEquality Party		 Equality PartyThe leader of ANDHA Chile was proclaimed on 21 January 2013 as the Equality Party's candidate for president. She officially registered her candidacy at the Electoral Service on 19 August 2013.

Franco Parisi
Independent		Independent electorsEconomist and television commentator. On 7 August 2013, Parisi officially registered his independent candidacy at the Electoral Service. He presented over 52 thousand signatures, many more than the required minimum.

Alfredo Sfeir
Green Ecologist Party		 Green Ecologist PartyThe economist and spiritual leader was proclaimed as candidate by the Green Ecologist Party on 13 April 2013, after beating Félix González in a party primary. He officially registered his candidacy at the Electoral Service on 19 August 2013.

Unsuccessful candidacies

First-round scenarios

Second-round scenarios

Bachelet vs. Matthei

Presidential campaign

Debates

First round

The first debate was organized by ANP and CNN Chile and took place in Coquimbo's Enjoy Casino on 9 October. It ran from 20:00-22:00 with all candidates —except Bachelet, citing a prior commitment— participating. It was moderated by CNN Chile anchor Daniel Matamala. There were four other journalists from regional media present who asked the candidates two randomly selected questions. Matamala also asked two questions, which were the same to all eight candidates.
A radio debate organized by the Radio Broadcasters Association of Chile, took place on 25 October 2013 at the Gabriela Mistral Cultural Centre in Santiago. The debate, which featured all nine candidates for the first time, was broadcast by over 600 radio stations across the country. It started at 8 AM and lasted for about 140 minutes. It was moderated by Archi president Luis Pardo and included four radio journalists: Sergio Campos, Cony Stipicic, Mauricio Bustamente and Alejandro de la Carrera.
A series of two consecutive televised debates were organized by the National Television Association and broadcast by all national terrestrial television stations. All nine candidates participated, as well. The first part of the debate aired on 29 October 2013, with a second part transmitted the next day. Both shows took place at TVN's studios in Santiago, beginning at 10 PM and running for over two hours. Former Anatel president Bernardo Donoso served as moderator. The journalists for the first day were Constanza Santa María, Soledad Onetto and Claudio Elórtegui ; while the journalists for the second day were Beatriz Sánchez, Iván Núñez and Mauricio Bustamante.

Runoff

A radio debate on 6 December 2013 was organized by Archi. A television debate organized by Anatel was held 10 December 2013.

Results

President

Senate

Senators are elected for eight-year mandates, and roughly half of the Senate is renewed every four years. On this election, ten out of 19 senatorial constituencies were contested. As each constituency elects two representatives, this results in 20 new senators.

Chamber of Deputies

Regional boards

Provisional results including 99.92% of ballot boxes.

Reactions

Following the result of the first round election, Bachelet said: "We knew that it would be tough to win on the first round, we worked really hard, and we almost did it. We did win tonight, and we are going to work hard to win comfortably in December." Following the first round, both candidates offered no change in aggressive campaigning for the second round except to include young MPs elected in their campaign. Matthei did however compare her politices that of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Bachelet's to that of the former East Germany. While Green Ecologist Party's candidate Alfredo Sfeir was the only losing first-round candidate to back one of the two second-round candidates, in his case Michelle Bachelet, independent candidate Franco Parisi said "Bachelet will be a great President, Matthei would do bad for Chile, she is not to be trusted."
U.S. President Barack Obama spoke with Bachelet, while the White House issued a statement that read: "The President expressed his desire to continue strengthening the relationship between the United States and Chile, building on the close partnership he enjoyed with President-elect...The President looks forward to working closely with President-elect Bachelet to advance our shared interests in the years ahead."

Analysis

Though Bachelet's New Majority gained a majority of seats in the legislature, it failed to gain a four-sevenths majority required to pass legislation for her cornerstone education reform, which was the reason for mass mobilisation amidst the ongoing 2011–13 Chilean student protests. They also failed to get a two-thirds majority to restructure the 1981 constitution of Chile enacted during the Augusto Pinochet regime. Wake Forest political science Professor Peter Siavelis suggested: "The result will surely be disappointing for Bachelet. Social movements that have spilled onto the streets are demanding reform, yet the limits of the institutional structure of Chile are going to limit her capacity to engage in reform. Even though Bachelet may be the winner tonight she is not in an enviable position." The Washington Post said that Bachelet's "legacy now rides on her ability to craft a coalition for far-reaching structural and particularly political reform." It also questioned what a low turnout could mean for her mandate, which it said was not clear enough as she had to go to a second round. The Huffington Post drew the 40th anniversary of the 11 September coup as a more than subtle backdrop to the election while saying the election was a referendum on Pinochet.