In the elections in Chile held on November 16, none of the candidates managed to secure the necessary majority of votes to win in the first round.
As a result of the voting, the top positions were taken by Janette Jara, representing the Communist Party and a former Minister of Labor, and ultra-conservative José Antonio Kast. Jara, according to Associated Press data, received about 27% of the votes, which was below the expected result, while Kast garnered 24% of the votes.
Frank Parisi from the center-right "People's Party" came in third with 19% of the votes, followed by Johannes Kaiser from the far-right National Libertarian Party, and in fifth place was Evelyn Matthei from the "Chile, Forward!" coalition. These results, according to AP, give Kast a certain advantage heading into the second round, where voters will choose between the two candidates.
Kast focused his campaign on promises to combat illegal immigration and crime, while Jara emphasized expanding social protection and combating drugs and money laundering.
The second round of elections in Chile is scheduled for December 14.
The country's president is elected for a term of four years without the possibility of re-election.
In the previous elections in 2021, José Antonio Kast and Gabriel Boric faced off in the second round, where Kast, who led after the first round, was defeated. The 35-year-old Boric, representing the left coalition, became the youngest president in Chile's history.
