The early list of presidential candidates

Wich are the names? What are the personalities who make up the list today for the big chair in the presidential palace thinking and saying? How are they being profiled or deprofiled?

Hugo Guzman. Journalist. “The century”. Santiago. 2/24/2024. There are about two years left but the waters of presidential candidates for the 2025 elections are already moving.

Between speculation and affirmation, several names make up the early presidential list, some wanting, others holding back and others looking to the side. But there is a preliminary list, there is.

Evelyn Matthew

It could be said that on the right, specifically the Chile Vamos conglomerate (UDI, RN, Evópoli) things would be more or less defined.

Deputy Jorge Alessandri did not hesitate to affirm that “Evelyn Matthei is already our presidential candidate” and added with confidence: “She will end up being not only our candidate, but also from a much broader sector than Chile Vamos.”

It is known that in the Independent Democratic Union (UDI), where the daughter of the member of the Military Junta of the dictatorship, Fernando Matthei, is active, they have her as a safe presidential card. In National Renewal (RN) and Political Evolution (Evópoli) they are analyzing whether they support her from the beginning, because they do not rule out presenting their own candidacies, although none of them sound strong.

Evelyn Matthei, current mayor of Providencia, a few months ago commented on the possibility of running for president that “it is a long time away,” although she specified that she is “preparing for the responsibility that may fall upon me. Clearly that can happen. It’s like when you want to study medicine. You have to prepare yourself.” Will he be doing it?

Although there is still no definition, the mayor of Providencia could, tacitly, shed light in a couple of months on her decision to run for the Presidency of the Republic. Because she will have to decide if she is going to be re-elected as community leader or she will rule it out thinking about the option of the big chair at La Moneda.

Pablo Longueira, former president of the UDI and an old fox in these issues, said in an interview with El Mercurio that Matthei “has no chance of going for re-election (as mayor), today she cannot resist, from the citizen’s point of view, the “Go as a candidate and last a single month as mayor and then resign and be a presidential candidate.”

Thus, Evelyn Matthei sounds strong as a presidential option for the right, with more than 25 points of approval in various polls, classified as having good communication performance and who could even please far-right sectors.

Camila Vallejo

Among the left-wing and progressive forces, and beyond, the presidential option of Minister Camila Vallejo is still being considered, one of those with the best results in the polls in the official ranks, installed as a national political and communication reference, and with influence in the social and political scene.

Communist militant, from her community no one officially confirms or denies the possibility of the candidacy for La Moneda of the former president of the FECH and former deputy, apparently along the lines that she is carrying out a task in the current Government and it would not be the time to to be getting her into discussions about candidacy. But it seems more than obvious that in the Communist Party (PC) there is a high assessment of Camila Vallejo’s current and future role.

The Government spokesperson minister, in any case, has been clear when asked or hinted at about her name on the list of presidential candidates. In an interview with Velvet magazine, she stated that “they talk to me about future candidacies and I block them immediately because my task is to be Minister of State for President Boric.”

Previously, interviewed on Megavisión, she stated that “it is not appropriate to have that debate” and emphasized that “I am not here to do that hypothetical exercise, my role now and for which I am very grateful is the president’s trust to accompany him in this task of moving forward.” a program of change, a welfare state…”

Along these lines, she has completely rejected being in a competition, for example, with the Minister of the Interior, Carolina Tohá, or another personality from the ruling party and, in effect, she has not participated in any space where presidential candidacies are analyzed, despite that not only in the PC have his name in mind, but also in sectors of the Frente Amplio and other political groups.

It is a fact that Camila Vallejo is installed as a possible presidential candidate of transformative forces, with possibilities according to polls and analysis and, for the same reason, always receiving blows and pressure from the right and other political sectors.

Johannes Kaiser

“I am going to be a presidential candidate,” said deputy Johannes Kaiser categorically in an interview on Radio Agricultura.

That even meant defining family options. Because his brother Axel Kaiser had recently announced that he would be a presidential candidate, however, he declared these days that “the possibility of being one remains, but in the next round. Now I support my brother.”

A topic resolved for Johannes. Not so with Chile Vamos and even less with the Republican Party of which he was a member and abandoned it due to strong political differences. In any case, it is known that he will defend ultra-conservative positions and that he does not like the traditional right very much. In fact, he allowed himself to harshly criticize former President Sebastián Piñera and his management as President. “I’m tired of having a supposedly right-wing government that ends up making left-wing policies,” he said.

Until now, Kaiser could have the support of the Christian Social Party, which represents ultra-conservative evangelicals, the military family, Pinochet sectors and even the People’s Party.

According to his own information, this candidate for La Moneda indicates that he has 120 thousand adherents to his candidacy.

That and other support would be essential for him to participate in the right-wing presidential primaries – if they are held – to which he has already committed because he wants to compete. In fact, he established, again criticizing the governments of Piñera and Chile Vamos, that “demand a serious commitment to a political line, because I do not want the same thing to happen to us that happened to us in two previous right-wing governments: Where we arrived with a discourse and we make a completely different policy.”

Thus there is in Johannes Kaiser a competitor running towards the presidential palace.

Carolina Leitao

The mayor of Peñalolén, Carolina Leitao, a member of the Christian Democracy (DC), is mentioned as a “card up her sleeve” to jump into the presidential race.

She cannot run for reelection as community leader, she had a prominent role as spokesperson and coordinator of the “Against” option in the past plebiscite, she is evaluated well in her presence in the media and management in the community and is assigned a good link with sectors of the ruling party.

A couple of months ago she began to be mentioned as a presidential candidate, without her rejecting the option, which caused a positive internal reaction in the DC, which appears to have few leaders, hit by electoral losses in previous elections, due to the resignation of several of her figures who even today appear as presidential alternatives and presenting a woman who would be widely accepted.

Leitao is president of the Chilean Association of Municipalities (AChM), where her management is well evaluated transversally, and has played prominent roles in situations of natural disasters, solidarity campaigns and addressing issues of public safety, services, health, among others. Some remember her work in Michelle Bachelet’s first presidential campaign, with dedication and without great personal pretensions.

Carlos Correa, communications analyst, said that Carolina Leitao in the En Contra campaign was an “always accepted spokesperson, who allowed her to speak to the undecided public that had been lost. She was important in capturing that indefinite world that she needed to win.” He added that the current mayor has political projection due to her work and “because she is also a figure from the DC who entered the world of the left very well, I don’t remember, in a long time, a figure from the DC with so much influence on the left , and that gives rise to projections of all kinds.”

Some point out that having Leitao as a presidential candidate would easily allow for a better alliance between the center-left and the center-right, at least with respect to the electorates of both sectors.

Michelle Bachelet

The Chilean ambassador to the United Nations, Paula Narváez, said that the former Chilean president, Michelle Bachelet, is mentioned in diplomatic and government circles as a candidate to occupy the general secretary of the United Nations (UN). “Informally, representatives from different countries point to her as the next Secretary General of the United Nations,” she said in an interview on T13Radio. She added that “Michelle Bachelet’s name is always there.”

Not only is his name in the international arena. In recent months she was once again named as an option by the current ruling party to run for the big seat at La Moneda, even for the third time.

It is said, especially in social democratic circles, that it provides security, both political and electoral, to enter the presidential competition where, otherwise, a tough fight with the current opposition is predicted. By the way, Bachelet is perhaps the best positioned in polls in the area of ​​the ruling party and she persists in gravitating to the national scene with good results.

But she herself seemed to close the door by declaring that “doing mandatory military service for the third time is a little too much. And I also say that democracy does not deserve people to repeat itself.” She emphasized: “I will always be available to contribute and help, but I think it is necessary for there to be fresh faces. I’m not just referring to youth, it can be a person no younger than me, but who has a different outlook and who loves the Chilean people.”

In any case, presidents and leaders of the Democratic Socialism conglomerate (PS, PPD, PR, PL) do not completely rule out, yet, the Bachelet alternative, with sympathies from the Christian Democrats and other segments of the ruling party, especially if they are not convinced of another candidacy that represents them and that has a chance of winning.

Who knows how long she will be on the presidential list, but Michelle Bachelet’s name is there.

Daniel Jadue

The mayor of Recoleta, Daniel Jadue, continues to be mentioned as a probability of presidential candidacy for the PC, the left and progressive sectors. It is common to hear support and sympathies for the communist leader in these sectors and it is considered a competitive card.

It will be remembered that he went to the primaries with the current president, Gabriel Boric, and lost, but today, in an interview with The Clinic, he expressed that “perhaps he would not be willing to go through another primary for a simple reason: it is a primary that is bad.” designed in our country and that allows one sector to enter the primary of the other sector to define who it wants to compete with.”

Regardless of the procedure and how the hand will come to elect or designate the presidential candidate from a sector that has had a lot of incident on the political scene, Jadue is seen as a real option, especially since his last institutional period as mayor ends, he cannot go for re-election. . It is clear that he has ascendancy in areas of the electorate, communication installation and reach to sectors of the citizenry.

In any case, faced with what the future holds, Daniel Jadue indicated in The Clinic that “I am available to whatever citizens ask of me. The party (PC) will know how to ratify what the citizens feel, because the leaders are chosen by the people, not the parties. Even though it may seem like a cliché phrase to someone, I am available to whatever the citizens, the people of Chile and the party demand of me in the future.”

Carolina Tohá

No one dares to rule out the current Minister of the Interior, Carolina Tohá, as a presidential letter.

The activist of the Party for Democracy (PPD), with leadership within Democratic Socialism and positioned -despite debates and shocks- on the national political scene, is seen by many as an option to compete for La Moneda, according to the method to be decided.

Despite the decline in the polls and questions at the head of the Interior portfolio, it is estimated that Tohá is one of the prominent personalities in the ruling party and social democracy, and has support to enter the electoral competition.

Senator Loreto Carvajal, of the PPD, the minister’s group, declared at the end of last year that “it seems very positive to me that our coalition has many references and names that are considered presidential candidates. Without a doubt, for us, Carolina Tohá is a natural fit for the Presidency of Chile, the role she has had in the Government has been decisive. The academic Carlos Peña defined her as “a great leader. She has proven it in actions. Her situation may not be comfortable, but she is a person with remarkable mental clarity.” Deputy Daniel Manouchehri (PS) told the newspaper La Tercera that “Minister Tohá is a woman with a lot of leadership. She has done a good job as head of the Interior.”

It is noted that she is in charge of one of the most sensitive and complicated portfolios of the ministerial cabinet, but at the end of the day within the ruling party there are those who trust in the performance of Carolina Tohá and that she will be able to remain installed with the capacity to compete for the Presidency of the Republic.

José Antonio Kast

It is very unlikely that the far-right leader will not run as a presidential candidate. And that he goes directly to the first round, without submitting to primaries with anyone, not even with the candidate from Chile Vamos. In short, in the last presidential election he won in the first round.

This ultra-conservative politician who left the UDI because he considered it inconsistent with right-wing ideology and who founded the Republican Party, with achievements such as having achieved supremacy in the Constitutional Council, continues to mark in the polls as an option and has the support from important conservative, business and political sectors and representations of the country, including the military family. The data, moreover, still indicate that the Republicans have votes in popular sectors, apart from high socioeconomic sectors.

In an interview on Channel 7, when asked if he would run again as a presidential candidate, he said: “I would love to. It doesn’t depend on me alone, but if God gives me life and health, I want to be there.”

And be, most likely, directly on the ballot in the first round. Because, she said, “one never rules out everything, but if you ask me, I wouldn’t go to primaries, but I don’t decide alone.” He emphasized that “we have demonstrated in practice that without primaries we enhance the sector’s vote.”

After the defeat of the constitutional proposal in the last plebiscite, which meant citizen rejection of a proposal that contained the theses of the Republican Party, it was noted that José Antonio Kast emerged weakened and in fact dropped in the polls and was no longer identified as One of the favorites.

Along this path, the name of Rojo Edwards began to be mentioned, a man from the extreme right who resigned from the Republican Party considering him simply “a campaign commando” for Kast, but to date it is not heard that Edwards aspires to the presidential candidacy. Some also made reference to the ultra-conservative Teresa Marinovic, very popular among the far-right public, but she seems to have been ruled out.

In any case, both on the right and in the ruling party call not to trust one another and not rule out that José Antonio Kast rebounds or, at least, proves to be a competitive factor and a hindrance in the first round.

It is clear that the Republicans, along with important political and economic sectors, keep Kast on the presidential list and will aim to consolidate their vote to face the 2025 elections.

Ximena Rincon

The senator who resigned from the DC and who is on the board of the conservative Democrats movement, considers herself a presidential candidate and unofficial news suggests that she would be willing to go to the Chile Vamos primaries.

Of course, some remember his problematic and failed presidential candidacy for the DC, in 2021, full of controversies and entanglements of his own community, without managing to convince an electorate that he could have attracted from his then party.

Now he trusts in votes from Democrats and those that another conservative group, Amarillos, can contribute for his presidential candidacy. “We are here to recover a lost space for the middle class and the moderation that many Chileans share,” he told the newspaper El Mercurio last December.

According to objective data, it is unlikely that a presidential candidacy from these groups will come to fruition, but it could be in their best interest to participate in right-wing primaries to consolidate themselves on the political scene and even attract voters.

But in this case, like others, it seems more prudent to wait for the decision made by the Democratic senator.

Eduardo Artes

This professor and leader of the Proletarian Action Communist Party (PC-AP) was a presidential candidate in 2021 representing the Patriotic Union and various anti-systemic left groups. He obtained just over 1% of the vote.

And now, it is likely that Eduardo Artés will once again become a presidential candidate for 2025, again representing left-wing sectors and capturing what they consider to be his adherents, and votes from the left-wing base dissatisfied with the ruling party.

Of course, he must clear legal paths for the registration of the candidacy and those around him rule out the possibility of supporting any presidential option that comes from the current ruling party.

Marco Enriquez-Ominami

In political circles, and particularly in the Progressive Party, it is not ruled out that filmmaker Marco Enríquez-Ominami will run as a presidential candidate once again.

It is noted that he continues to carry out political activities in public territories and spaces, continues to appear in the media, is active on social networks and maintains good ties with presidents and political figures in Latin America.

Of course, according to electoral experts, another thing is the number of votes that Enríquez-Ominami can capture, and it is suggested that it could be a frustrated candidacy before leaving.

But there are those who are interested in having the filmmaker’s name appear in these months with their sights set on La Moneda.

Ruben Oyarzo

The truth is that it was he himself who started mentioning his own presidential candidacy.

“I am open to the option of a presidential candidacy, in which a new style and a new way of doing politics, from the territory and not virtually, allows us to fight for the desires of the middle class and the emerging middle class,” indicated deputy Rubén Oyarzo, from the People’s Party.

It is a mystery whether it is a competitive application or not.

Names discarded, for now

They were among the mentions as candidates for the Presidency but at this point they seem to have been ruled out due to different circumstances. Although it is often said that it is difficult to predict someone’s political death, especially if they continue with some field of action.

One case is that of Franco Parisi, identified as from the People’s Party (PDG), but questioned by legislators, leaders and activists of that community, discredited for actions in his private and public life.

But he maintains sympathies in segments of the PDG and also in a right-wing liberal electorate, although it would be minimal and insufficient to dare to run for La Moneda.

The mayor of La Florida, the far-right Rodolfo Carter, a former UDI militant, had a significant downturn due to the very poor result of the Republicans’ In Favor of the constitutional text that he supported with great enthusiasm in his commune. He was held responsible for that negative balance.

In addition, he continues to be involved in controversial political cases in his mayor’s office, he is accused of having achieved the dismissal of a councilor from the Communist Party through bad practices, his high-sounding media appearances and his insistence on militarizing the Metropolitan Region to combat crime are questioned.

In any case, everything indicates that those around him are clear that competing against Matthei, Kast or another candidate positioned on the right or extreme right will not pay off, and he would be out of the presidential competition.

And well, in some polls and journalistic articles names appear such as businessman Leonardo Farkas, representative Pamela Jiles, legislator Gaspar Rivas, among others.

Two years left. But a list of presidential candidates is installed that, in any case, predicts strong disputes and necessary facilities where not only those mentioned play a role, but also the political parties that aspire to a presidential victory in November 2025 or December if there is a second round. .