Sharjah24 – AFP: Chileans head to the ballot box for the fourth time in 18 months Sunday, this time to elect a new president on whose watch the country will draft its first post-dictatorship constitution.
The poll comes two years after a social revolt against deep-rooted inequality, and months after elections for a body that will draft the new constitution -- a key demand of the protesters.
That ballot, in May, saw voters massively reject traditional political parties in charge since democracy replaced the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet 31 years ago.
On Sunday, seven candidates will vie to replace the unpopular President Sebastian Pinera, covering the entire political spectrum from left to right.
The favorites are Gabriel Boric, 35, of the leftist Approve Dignity alliance which includes the Communist Party, and far right candidate Jose Antonio Kast, 55, of the Republican Party -- each with about a quarter of stated voter intention.
Both are from minority parties not in government.
Centrists, including the candidate from Pinera's party, proved the least popular in opinion polls that also revealed half of the 15 million eligible voters to be undecided.
"I’m going to vote but I am pretty disappointed," said 26-year-old Danilo Panes, who took part in the 2019 protests and feels none of the seven candidates have put forward "alternatives in line with what the people demanded" when they took to the streets.
For an optimal experience, please
