General elections were held in Chile on Sunday 13 December 2009 to elect the president, all 120 members of the Chamber of Deputies and 18 of the 38 members of the Senate were up for election. As no presidential candidate received a majority of the vote, a second round was held between the top two candidates—Sebastián Piñera and Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle—on Sunday 17 January 2010. Piñera won the runoff with 52% of the vote and succeeded Michelle Bachelet on 11 March 2010.
In the Congressional elections, the centre-right Coalition for Change improved on the Alliance for Chile's result in 2005 by winning 58 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, while the governing center-left Concertación (CPD) was reduced to 57 seats. Three communist MPs were elected (Guillermo Teillier, Hugo Gutiérrez and Lautaro Carmona), while incumbent Speaker of the Chamber, Rodrigo Álvarez (UDI) was defeated by Marcela Sabat (RN).
Background
Chilean politics is dominated by two main coalitions: the center-left Concert of Parties for Democracy (Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia), composed of the Christian Democrat Party, the Socialist Party, the Party for Democracy, and the Social Democrat Radical Party; and the center-right Alliance for Chile (Alianza por Chile), composed of the Independent Democratic Union and National Renewal. The Concertación selected former president Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle as their candidate, while the Alianza chose former presidential candidate Sebastián Piñera, who is supported by the newly created Coalition for Change electoral group. The far-left Juntos Podemos Más pact selected former Socialist Party member Jorge Arrate as its candidate. Another former Socialist party member, deputy Marco Enríquez-Ominami (MEO), ran as independent.
Presidential candidates
Concertación candidate
Party pre-candidates
Each Concertación party selected its own pre-candidate for president. Only Frei and Gómez submitted their candidacies before the 26 January 2009 deadline.
Primary results
The primary was carried out on 5 April 2009 in the Maule and O'Higgins regions. Frei became the single Concertación candidate by beating Gómez by a 20-point lead, cancelling the need for further regional primaries.
Final results.
Juntos Podemos candidate
Primary results
The election to define the sole Juntos Podemos candidate was carried out on 25 April 2009 in Santiago. Arrate beat Hirsch and became the single Juntos Podemos candidate.
Final results.
Unsuccessful candidacies
- Eduardo Artés (PC (AP)): He was proclaimed as a Juntos Podemos Más pre-candidate by the Communist Party (Proletarian Action) on 7 December 2007. However, on 26 July 2008, the PC (AP) left the Juntos Podemos Más pact, accusing them of abandoning their founding principles in light of the pact's electoral deal with the Concertación for the upcoming October municipal elections. He quit his candidacy in July 2009. He said his candidacy was just an opportunity to present new ideas to the country, as going through with the candidacy would be too economically onerous.
- Leonardo Farkas (Ind.): A mining businessman. On 5 December 2008, he announced he was giving up his presidential candidacy.
- Pamela Jiles (Ind.): Journalist and television presenter. She announced her candidacy in February 2009 through a column in The Clinic magazine. On 4 September 2009 she stepped out of the race in support of Navarro. In the same election, she unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the lower chamber of Congress.
- Luis Molina Vega (Ind.) A civil engineer from Tomé. Molina stepped out of the race in July 2009, due to low support.
- Alejandro Navarro (MAS): Navarro used to characterize himself as a leader in the "dissident" faction of the Socialist Party, which harshly criticized what they called the "neoliberal" economic model, supporting instead Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro. Despite his involvement in a scandal due to his participation in a protest organized by the Unitary Workers Central where he attacked a policeman, with the possibility of being expelled from the Senate being considered, Navarro declared himself to be a presidential candidate in 2008. In November 2008, he quit the Socialist Party to form a new party called Broad Social Movement (MAS). He said his candidacy was necessary to "stop Piñera from winning in the first round", and still considered himself a Socialist. The MAS party proclaimed him its candidate on 11 November 2008; the party, however, was still open to stage a primary between all leftist candidates that were not part of the Concertación. Navarro has proposed to hold the primary in April 2009. On 5 May 2009 Navarro said he would step out of the race and support Arrate if polls released from then to September show the Juntos Podemos Más candidate having an advantage of seven points over him. He didn't rule out Arrate then supporting Enríquez-Ominami, if his candidacy was the strongest. Navarro was proclaimed as the official MAS candidate on 25 July 2009 with the support of other minor left groups. He submitted his candidacy to the Electoral Service on 14 September 2009. On 22 September 2009 Navarro withdrew his candidacy and gave his support to Enríquez-Ominami.
- Adolfo Zaldívar (PRI): The former president of the Christian Democratic Party and a Senator at the time of his nomination, lost the last internal PDC primary to Alvear. He is the brother of senator and former Interior Minister Andrés Zaldívar. He was expelled from the PDC in December 2007, later becoming part of the Regionalist Party of the Independents (PRI). He announced his intention to run as president representing that party, and was proclaimed so on 26 April 2009. This decision was ratified on 29 August 2009. He stepped out of the race on 14 September 2009, just hours before the deadline for submission.
Coalitions for the Congressional elections
Concertación and Juntos Podemos Más
The A list conformed after the union of two political coalitions that had taken part separately in the elections of 2005. On one hand the Concertación, which was grouping to the center-left parties that since 1990 governed the country. In the other hand the left-wing Juntos Podemos Más, that it suffered an internal division after the exit of the Humanist Party.
The reason of this strange union was, the Binomial System that get out the political left from the National Congress since 1994.
The largest party inside the A list was the Christian Democrats, with the leadership of Juan Carlos Latorre who was chief of the Eduardo Frei's presidential campaign. The Socialists joined with the senator Camilo Escalona, PPD with the deputy Pepe Auth. The Radicals led by Senator Gómez, and the Communist Party with the leadership of Guillermo Teillier.
Coalition for Change
The Alliance for Chile for the elections of 2009, began with an important step, by means of I arrive of two precandidates, one of them the senator Pablo Longueira, and the mayor of Concepción, Jacqueline van Rysselberghe, both of the Independent Democratic Union, who demonstrated his availability of postulating to this post, using the regular conduits inside the coalition, nevertheless, both rejected such an option to present only a presidential candidate, who would be Sebastián Piñera.
In March 2009 two Congressmen of the Alliance for Chile obtained the speaker of the Senate and the speaker of the Deputies' Chamber, by means of an agreement with the independent bench and with the Concert, respectively. The above mentioned agreements were not lacking in polemic, since the Senator who postulated the alliance to preside at the above mentioned organism, Jovino Novoa, was harshly criticized for personeros of the Concert in view of his past as member of Augusto Pinochet Ugarte's military regime.
In spite of the critiques, the Alliance for Chile awarded a political victory on having presided at both chambers of the National Congress and some of the most influential commissions of the same one, which, they waited in the conglomerate opponent, he was benefiting Sebastián Piñera's candidacy.
After having integrated the list Clean Chile, Vote Happy, one was generated fail between the charter members of ChileFirst with regard to the position that would take the party opposite to the presidential and parliamentary elections of 2009. Whereas Jorge Schaulsohn and Senator Flores supported the candidate of the Alliance for Chile Sebastián Piñera, the deputy Esteban Valenzuela rejected to join with the center-right and resigned ChileFirst to endorse Marco Enríquez-Ominami's candidacy. The support to Piñera on the part of ChileFirst was made official on 6 May 2009, when one presented the "Coalition for the Change", electoral agreement between the Alliance for Chile, ChileFirst and other political minor movements.
New Majority for Chile
New Majority for Chile was a political coalition that grouped the Ecologist party of Chile, the Humanist Party of Chile, and diverse political and independent movements that supported the candidacy of the independent Marco Enríquez-Ominami for the presidential election of 2009. Between the movements and groups without political legal constitution that they it shaped are the Regionalist Movement, the Movement Unified of Sexual Minorities (MUMS), the Movement SurDA and the Progressist Network.
Opinion polls
Presidential election
List of opinion polls released within a year of the election. Only responses from persons registered to vote are shown.
First-round scenarios
DK/NR: Don't know / No response.
Runoff scenarios
DK/NR: Don't know / No response.
DK/NR: Don't know / No response.
DK/NR: Don't know / No response.
DK/NR: Don't know / No response.
Debates
The first debate was organized by TVN and took place in Studio #9 at the station's main headquarters in Santiago. It was broadcast live on 23 September 2009 at 10:40 p.m and included all four candidates. A poll published by Ipsos the following day, showed that Enríquez-Ominami, Arrate and Piñera were each considered to have had the best performance over the rest, with 29-30% of support, while Frei's showing only had the support of 9%. Frei was seen by 45% as the worst performer, followed by Piñera (37%), Arrate (10%) and Enríquez-Ominami (5%). Another poll by La Segunda found 23% thought Piñera had won the debate, followed by Arrate (21%), Enríquez-Ominami (15%) and Frei (9%). 31% thought none had won the debate.
The second debate was organized by Archi (Radio Broadcasters Association) and Mayor University. It took place at 8:30 AM on 9 October 2009. It was a radio-only debate, though some local 24-hour news channels broadcast live some parts of it. A poll carried out by Mayor University showed Piñera had won the debate by 41%, followed by Enríquez-Ominami (22%), Arrate (19%) and Frei Ruiz-Tagle (17%).
There was an online debate on 4 November, organized by Terra and Radio Cooperativa. Only Arrate was present after the other three candidates declined to attend. Frei and Piñera had confirmed their presence in May, while Enríquez-Ominami backed down on the same day of the debate.
A debate to discuss regional issues took place on 6 November at 9 AM in Talca's casino. It was organized by the National Press Association (ANP) and was attended by all four candidates.
A fifth debate took place on 9 November at Canal 13's studios in Santiago, which was broadcast live at 10 PM. All four candidates were present. This debate was notable because the candidates were able to ask questions to one another and freely talk to each other.
The last debate of the first round was organized by the National Television Association (Anatel) and broadcast live on 16 November at 10 PM by all terrestrial television stations. All candidates attended. There was no audience present.
For the second round, there was a single debate between the two candidates. It was organized by Anatel and broadcast at 10 PM by all terrestrial television stations on 11 January 2010.
Results
President
On 20 December 2009, the Juntos Podemos Más coalition gave its support to Eduardo Frei's candidacy, after the former president agreed to include a number of policies into his government program. Two days later, Jorge Arrate also gave his full support to Frei. On 13 January 2010 Enríquez-Ominami held a press conference to state that he would vote for Frei, although he did not say his name. He had previously said that voting for Piñera would be a regression and voting for Frei would not be an advancement.