The last major electoral event before the 2025 presidential elections, the municipal and regional elections held on Saturday, October 26 and Sunday, October 27 in Chile served as a dress rehearsal, in particular for the government of Gabriel Boric (left). Without a wave or defeat of any political force, the election, with mandatory voting, to appoint mayors, regional governors and regional and municipal councilors marked the decline of the presidential coalition, the consolidation of the traditional right of Chile Vamos and a half-decided advance of the extreme right.
Gabriel Boric’s side, elected in 2021 with a progressive program largely diluted due to lack of majority in Congress, lost a total of thirty-nine municipalities, including Santiago. Certainly, the capital’s city council, until now retained by the Iraqi communist Hassler, historically oscillates between left and right. But the victory of Mario Desbordes (right), with more than twenty points ahead of his communist rival, is large enough to symbolize the government’s loss of ground. Especially since the town hall in the city center of Santiago is famous for announcing the color of the winning party. during the following presidential elections. The ruling coalition, which brings together parties ranging from the Communist Party to the center-left, also lost the coveted municipality of Nunoa, in the Santiago metropolitan area, by less than one percentage point.
The question of insecurity
The government is paying the price for the insecurity crisis, with a 42.5% increase in the number of homicides in 2022 compared to 2018. If the Ministry of the Interior highlights the slight change in this dynamic, with a decrease in the number of homicide victims of 6% in 2023, compared to the previous year, the issue of insecurity monopolizes the public debate. Furthermore, the last few days have been marked by the rape complaint against Manuel Monsalve, former undersecretary of the Ministry of the Interior and a key Government executive in the fight against insecurity.
The municipal and regional elections do not constitute, however, a disavowal of the government, whose coalition retains important mayoralties such as Maipú (Santiago agglomeration) and Viña del Mar (West). Win in 111 municipalities in total. After the results, Gabriel Boric wanted to minimize the loss of ground, highlighting that “catastrophic predictions” They were not verified.
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