Antofagasta, Chile The next Chilean president will take office during a legislative change, but opposition to Congress is expected to thwart it. Gabriel Boric‘s aspirational, social-democratic policy when he receives office next year.
Boric, a 35-year-old left-handed left and former student leader, was elected Sunday after defeating a right-handed man. Jose Antonio Kast and more than 11 percent.
The turnout, especially among Chilean women and youth, was higher than any other election since the official elections were abolished in South America in 2012 – and when he takes office in March, Boric will be Chile’s junior president.
Boric is a major democratic and feminist platform, which pledged to reform the pension system, public health, gradual tax reform, and a strong focus on human rights and tackling climate change.
He was also the sole candidate with the implications of mental decentralization leadership and changing the model for sustainable development, said Matias Garreton, a researcher with the Center for Social Conflict and Cooperative Studies and a professor at Adolfo Ibanez University in Santiago.
Young people are well aware of the need to change the country’s development strategies, he said. “And I think this is one of the reasons why Boric has grown, more than a year after he did not run for office as Chile’s youngest president,” Garreton told Al Jazeera.
New Constitution
When Boric takes office on March 11, he will also be the first Chilean President to remain in Santiago or Valparaiso in central Chile. The president-elect is from Punta Arenas, 2,180km (1,355 miles) by plane south of Santiago, the capital.
After rising to prominence as a student group leader during a major protest 10 years ago, he was first elected to the Chamber of Deputies of Chile’s bicameral Congress in 2013 and re-elected in 2017.
In the first six months of his presidency, there will be a new legal referendum it is currently being organized by a meeting of elected representatives of the country, half of whom are women.
The 1980s revolution Augusto Pinochet during the dictatorship The Constitution was an important precedent for public protests exploded in October 2019 – and one that Boric contributed. He pledged to support his government, while respecting the convention’s autonomy.
“We have reaffirmed our commitment to compliance with the constitution and the convention,” Boric told reporters Monday. physical leadership.
The new law is expected to bring about significant changes, including the recognition of Chile as a sovereign state. 20 of the 155 members are Indians, and 17 of them have secured seats representing 10 Chileans.
“For the first people, the new law has the potential to end political tyranny,” said Salvador Millaleo, professor of law at the University of Chile at the University of Chile. “It will be a tool that will help us establish a new relationship in this country between the government and the first peoples.”
Changes in ordinary human relationships
Right now, that relationship is one of the most open animosities in Indigenous Mapuche In southern Chile, where long-running and violent conflicts are raging by forestry companies. Mapuche people have been charged with terrorism, and several have been executed by Carabineros police for years.
“Boma [responses] has been known for its crimes, deploying more police and soldiers, and instead of focusing on resolving disputes, they see escalating tensions, “Millaleo told Al Jazeera.
Outgoing President Sebastian Pinera He reported the accident for two weeks in the Mapuche area in October and sent troops following fires and riots.
“It is a successful fight against terrorism, drug trafficking and crime, and it is not just about people or a group of peaceful citizens,” Pinera said in a statement, acknowledging the existence of the armed forces.
The emergency in four counties of La Araucania and Biobio, more than 500km (310 km) south of the capital, have been extended every two weeks, most recently Tuesday in the Senate.
Boric voted in Congress against the proliferation of emergency government and condemned the ongoing war. His program puts land restitution on the table as part of a public debate at the same rate as the Indians.
“I think it will be one of the biggest challenges in the next administration and how the government, with a different approach to it so far, could make a big difference,” Millaleo said.
War on the rise in Congress
However, Boric faces challenges in the next Congress, which will be even more divisive once it is in March.
The parties in its Apruebo Dignidad alliance have only a handful of seats, and some of Boric’s major promises depend on the rules. Some left-handed parties are now considering merging with Apruebo Dignidad, while the right-wing parties are planning a right-wing alliance.
“I think it will be a [few months] “More discussions to form the alliance,” said Federica Sanchez Staniak, a professor of political science at Alberto Hurtado University in Santiago and a member of the Red de Politologas group of women political scientists.
Regardless, the opposition will have a majority and Boric will have to seek negotiations and an alliance, said Sanchez Staniak, who added that if the right wing decided to thwart the presidential plan, his apparent support could be diminished.
The Boric system also takes into account the additional government resources generated by the economic reforms and taxation it seeks. But what he wants to do that has the greatest potential is to end tax evasion, Garreton said.
“This is not about changing laws. It is the application of the law, ”he said, adding that focusing on tax evasion alone would provide the necessary resources for the first phase of Boric’s tenure in office.
But Garreton insisted that with new legislation expected to bring about significant changes in Chile, it is still unclear how Boric’s leadership will turn out. “No one has a crystal ball,” he said.
