the new spectrum of opposition parties and their blind spots

While the groups from the Communist Party to the Christian Democrats have managed to consolidate a single bloc in the municipal candidacies and in Congress, disorientation abounds in the opposition and, with it, unforced errors among the right-wing parties.

Within the sector they acknowledge that they are going through a complex moment on the right. When asked about it, there are several voices that prefer to remain silent, since the statements can hurt sensitivities in a context that is crossed by municipal negotiation.

Others believe that this moment of disorientation responds to a natural process of coordination, since now the range of non-official parties is broader, from Democrats to the Republican Party, and that generates obvious complexities. Now, the last blow they tried to hit was the attempt to restore the powers of military justice. However, voices in the same opposition warn, they did not even have enough deputies to have the votes to approve the indication.

The origin

After the constitutional plebiscite of December 17 of last year, where the “Against” option was imposed, the advantage that the opposition enjoyed began to blur. At that time the Republican Party bore the costs, as it had a large majority in the Constitutional Council. Furthermore, after the death of former president Sebastián Piñera there was a new boost to leadership in Chile Vamos. However, this has failed to materialize.

The general secretary of Evópoli, Juan Carlos González, denies that the opposition is going through a period of disorientation. TO The counter declared that “the apparent lack of coordination on the right is not such.”

González’s diagnosis on the issue of the presidency of the Chamber, where the opposition failed to install its candidate and Karol Cariola (PC) won, is as follows: he maintains that it was clear that “the Government has no limits in agreeing with whoever and intervene, and that political tribalism is making important decisions depend on two or three waywards who obey only their personal agendas.”

Regarding the failed censorship, González points out that it responds to “the legitimate position of a party that chose to abstain. It is part of democracy.”

The municipal mess

Regarding the municipal panorama, it must be remembered that Chile Vamos managed to agree on 200 candidates and that it still has to negotiate with the rest of the opposition. Specifically regarding the cases of Santiago and Puente Alto, the general secretary of Evópoli believes that “it is part of the democratic process in which three parties negotiate and discuss. The ruling party announced 86 primaries and in the end they registered 40, but nothing comes of that, and candidates are raised in Ñuñoa or Valparaíso within the same pact.” So, González asks himself: “Where is there lack of coordination?”

The deputy of the same party, Jorge Guzmán, has another diagnosis. “As an opposition we have a tremendous challenge, which is to become the Government again and deliver growth, development and future to the country.” For this, he affirms that “we have to have a majority vocation and call on all those political parties and political forces that want to be part of this cohesive force. “That gives the country an alternative for the future.”

To achieve this objective, Guzmán points out that “we have to improve our internal coordination, we have to find points of agreement and elect the best people to occupy the best positions.” That would be the main challenge that the opposition has “to present an alternative, I insist, responsible and serious to the country,” he comments to The counter.

First symptom in the mother of all battles

The main sign of lack of coordination appeared when Sebastián Sichel’s municipal candidacy for Santiago fell. According to what they say inside Chile Vamos, Santiago is the mother of all battles. On Friday, April 26, in the morning, the former presidential candidate was the card of the traditional right to confront the current communist mayor, Irací Hassler. However, in the afternoon the candidacy had fallen and the new candidate was also former presidential candidate and former helmsman of Renovación Nacional, Mario Desbordes (RN).

Within Chile Vamos, this gesture generated conflicting versions. On the one hand, deputy Guillermo Ramírez (UDI) said in “Mesa Central”, of Canal 13, that that candidacy was that of Renovación Nacional, but not that of Chile Vamos. That same day, in “Zero Tolerance”, the president of the Senate, José Gracia Ruminot (RN), insisted that Desbordes was the candidate.

Gloría Hutt, during the week, squared with García Ruminot and declared that “Mario Desbordes is a good name, it is sufficiently transversal to reflect the interest of the sector.” Although he acknowledged that these cases are “part of the dynamics of the current negotiation,” he pointed to Ramírez and said that this was his opinion, but “he is not part of the board (of the UDI), nor is he head of the bench, as well “I respect his opinion a lot, but my impression is that he is not officially representing the party.”

Over the course of last week, Desbordes managed to establish himself as a candidate. However, there are still complexities in positioning the former Minister of Defense as the only candidate for the presidential seat, since the Social Christian Party continues to insist on the candidacy of lawyer Aldo Duque, whose name, as revealed by “Reportajes Tele 13”, is on a list of lawyers who have criminally defended drug traffickers.

The Mercury released some WhatsApp messages from the historic UDI Pablo Longueira, addressed to several leaders of Chile Vamos, warning that “if all the opposition sectors are not able to agree on a candidate to defeat the communist Irací Hassler, I do not believe May we win the 2025 presidential election.” A warning on one of the main battlefields.

High Bridge

Puente Alto is another critical point in the municipal elections, as it is one of the most populous communes, and Chile Vamos is betting on the continuity of its mandate. However, he calls only for Renovación Nacional. The current mayor, Germán Codina, said on Monday in The second: “I hope (the Ossandón) come to their senses.” This, since the communal chief and RN support the candidacy of the former minister spokesperson for the Piñera Government, Karla Rubilar. However, Felipe Ossandón, councilor for the commune and nephew of Senator Manuel José Ossandón, withdrew from facing Rubilar in primaries and until now it is not known if they will compete on the ballot alongside the two official options. Incidentally, Felipe is Senator Ossandón’s card, even to the detriment of his son.

Within the RN they tried to give a channel to this dispute, but the outlook indicates that two right-wing candidates will register to contest the Puente Alto elections.

Candidate Karla Rubilar stated that it is “essential that in July, when the candidacies are registered, every effort is made to hopefully have a single opposition candidate, to recover or maintain emblematic communes for what is to come, especially thinking about the presidential”.

On the other hand, he also recognizes that “coordination has indeed been difficult.” However, he explains that “probably, because for the first time there are so many parties to agree on and even some are not within the pact and that makes a certain disorder appear.” In any case, for Rubilar “the true test of fire is the final registration, where we hope that generosity and responsibility prevail and not personal adventures.”

The censorship

The Social Christian Party and the Republican Party generated a new headache for Chile Vamos in the Chamber. While the opposition groups were looking for votes to see the effectiveness of a possible censure of the Board of Directors of the Chamber led by Karol Cariola (PC), both parties presented the censure. Of course, since it did not have the votes, this was lost. With this, the directive that had reached the front seat by only one vote was further affirmed.

This time, Chile Vamos drew a line on this fact. Something similar had already happened with the accusation against the former Minister of Education, Marco Antonio Ávila. Deputy Jorge Guzmán (Evópoli) declared to this medium at the time: “We will not be available again for political actions immaturely promoted by the Republican Party and the Christian Social Party”.

Although this tension has not reached the electoral scene, after this medium published a report criticizing the Social Christian Party deputies Sara Concha and Francesca Muñoz, Concha responded: “I hope that the traditional right-wing parties have no doubt that we will compete and emerge victorious in each region of Chile”. Today it is that party that supports Duque’s candidacy in Santiago and it seems that his withdrawal from the municipal electoral race is key so that the opposition has the possibility of prevailing against Mayor Hassler.

Fall of the replacement of military justice

After the triple homicide of police officers that occurred in Cañete, the security agenda was activated and once again the Executive found itself in the complexity of responding to a security crisis that brings new developments every week.

The Rules on the Use of Force (RUF), the intelligence system and the Ministry of Security were the priorities of the week and there was broad consensus on these advances. However, the opposition promoted, within the framework of the RUF processing, the reinstatement of military justice in cases in which uniformed personnel and civilians were involved.

The ruling party criticized the rule and the Executive imposed a reservation of constitutionality in the process, because according to the Minister of Justice, Luis Cordero, the rule “is a setback compared to the last 30 years.” The opposition claimed that, regarding the murder of the three police officers, it was necessary to give political support to the Armed and Law Enforcement Forces. However, opposition deputies were already reporting that it was difficult to gather the necessary votes, since the right did not even have the assistance to achieve them.

Voices from Congress see that the right is crossed by the electoral process. This generates grandiose proposals that do not have much support, but the process for the municipal elections has them tied to responding en bloc, even when they know that their ideas are not going to prosper. This, they say, including the Yellows and Democrats.