Last Sunday, November 21, the first presidential round was held in Chile through which, if none of the candidates obtained 50% of the votes plus one, a second-round was passed between the two most voted candidates.

At the same time, the Chamber of Deputies was renewed, 50% of the members of the Senate were elected, and Regional Councilors, responsible for managing funds for competitive projects for the development of the country's regions, were also elected.

Six candidates representing different political sectors, both traditional and others recently-formed participated in the presidential election. I will list them and mention to which political sector they each belong, as well as the percentage of voting that they obtained, in an election where 47% of the 15 million people eligible to vote participated. This figure represents an important electoral abstention in relation to other recent elections, such as that of the members of the Constituent Convention.

José Antonio Kast (ultra-right with a recently formed political party) 27.91%; Gabriel Boric (new left political parties united in a Broad Front and the Communist party) 25.83%; Franco Parisi 12.80% (very recent political party, populist, critical of politicians, closer to right-wing ideas); Sebastián Sichel (represents traditional right-wing parties) 12.79%; Yasna Provoste (center party in conjunction with traditional social democratic parties such as the Socialist party) 11.61%;  Marco Enríquez Ominami 7.61% (left-wing populist) and Eduardo Artés (revolutionary left) 1.47%.

On October 19, 2019, there was a social uprising in Chile that culminated in the popular demand to draft a new constitution, for which 151 people were elected by popular vote as members of a Constituent Convention for its drafting. This social outbreak was associated with the abuses and enormous inequalities existing in Chilean society.

The aforementioned could have heralded a clear electoral victory for the left in the presidential election. However, the candidate with the highest vote was the ultra-right, and added their votes to those of the traditional right and populist right clearly outnumber the center-left and left-wing parties. This has prompted various analyses by political scientists and sociologists to explain this phenomenon.

In this election, the traditional parties have been the losers, which signals a crisis for the party system. Political “outsiders”, as they are called here, like Kast and Parisi won: They consist of those speaking out against politicians and offering concrete solutions depending on the specific interest groups of the citizenry, taking advantage of the abandonment of the political class mired in power fights and the insecurities that the pandemic has generated.

Today, the sociodemographic composition of the voters has become very different from what we were used to in Chile until now, since populist candidates, unlike traditional parties, segmented the population and better identified the needs of the people by geographic region and also by age.

Kast even spoke to the military and police, proposing to raise their salaries. For his part, Parisi aimed very clearly at the voters' pockets and the idea of reducing the privileges of politicians, with proposals such as eliminating the consumption tax on all basic products, reducing the price of fuel, lowering the salary of state officials and politicians, and even putting an end to the pensions of former presidents, among many other populist measures.

According to all the surveys, the fundamental concerns of citizens today are many and chiefly include: public safety, eradication of drug trafficking, improvement of pensions and the rights of the elderly, the problems generated by illegal migration, decent health, quality and free education, opportunities for entrepreneurs and small businessmen, the protection of the state to prevent abuses. Furthermore, many want to reduce inequalities and to control the corruption of large companies and that of the state agencies themselves, the armed and police forces and that of politicians. It is important to note that, regardless of the expectation of autonomy and national rights of indigenous peoples, two of the southern regions of the country where the "Mapuches" live – the largest ethnic group among the native people - have been militarized.

Candidate Kast's proposals are backward when it comes to the rights of native peoples, the rights of women and sexual minorities, and even migrants. In addition, using eclectic language, it hides the true intention of privatizing the most important natural resource in the country, copper.

Despite this, Kast’s "anti-political" speech penetrates deep among the people who see the political circus in both houses of parliament on a daily basis and the limited or absent attention to their needs. Citizens are relying more on their communal (municipality) representatives and they are no longer interested in political disputes, something that Kast knew how to capitalize very well with his discourse against the political class.

What remains to be done for the center-left and the left to face the second electoral round is to solicit their internal unity, facing the common threat that would lead to going backward and eliminating the advances made in equity and democracy during the last 30 years. They must change the discourse of presidential candidate Gabriel Boric to convince the large majorities of voting for him, instead of directing it only to his left-wing public, in addition to calling to the December 19 polls the voters of populist candidates or those who voted in the first round and who remain entranced by “the offers” made.

The parliament was now balanced in relation to the political blocs of the left (“New Social Pact” and “Approve Dignity”) and the right (“Chile We can do More” and “Republican Party”). Yet the presence of both the political party of Parisi (People's Party) and Enriquez Ominami´s (Progressive Party) in parliament will serve as a hinge to support the legislative initiatives of one sector or another.

Faced with this polarized scenario of political forces, two main views emerge among political analysts: One that points out that as of March 11, 2022 - the date on which the elected authorities will take office - Chile would be politically paralyzed given that the new composition of the National Congress would be basically divided into two highly-tensioned antagonistic halves.

Consequently, the only viable political solution will be to bet on the fruitful work of the Constitutional Convention, as soon as it is capable of drafting and presenting to the country the agreement between the great majorities within it; this means a new Political Constitution that contains the minimum common rules to allow for governance and lead the country once again towards development in democracy.

This would be possible since to approve the new legal norms, at least 2/3 of its members are needed, in addition, they must be accepted by the vast majority of the country through an exit plebiscite.

The other point of view, more optimistic, establishes that the close parity between the main political sectors will force a more dynamic legislative task to be carried out, one that seeks to reach great agreements and consensus among the parliamentarians. This would push them to send signals to the executive branch and the country that they have a diagnosis and a proposal regarding common priority problems that require urgent solutions in peace, tranquility and with respect for democratic rules.

This could be even more feasible if the Constitutional Convention approves changing the current presidential regime for a parliamentary system or perhaps for a semi-presidential system, with a prime minister who has to negotiate a majority government or at least achieve large agreements between political conglomerates, where in such a case, the small parties that allow them to achieve majorities will acquire greater importance. Then, Chile would be able to advance through national consensus with a broad nationwide vision.