As the votes were counted, several party leaders Democratic Socialism They began to feel a bitter pill and showed worried faces.
In numbers, the result of the primary elections held yesterday was favorable for both the Socialist Party (PS) as for the Party for Democracy (PPD). In fact, within the pact With you Chile Betterwhich brings together the nine government alliance groups and the Christian Democracy (DC), both were the ones who won in the most municipalities: twelve and ten, respectively.
However, in the key communes the electoral numbers of this Sunday’s primaries tipped the balance in favor of the cards presented by the Frente Amplio and the Communist Party.
Thus, the sectors furthest to the left of the pact consolidated their positions in regional capitals such as Valparaíso, with the councilor Camila Nieto (CS); Rancagua, with the councilor Valentina Caceres (RD); Antofagasta, through the former seremi Pablo Iriarte (PC); or Talca, with Sixto Gonzalez.
He Democratic SocialismMeanwhile, he only won two of the regional capitals (with two PR victories) that he contested at the polls: The Serena and Punta Arenas. The latter with the radical independent, Verónica Aguilar. In that area it did not go unnoticed that the FA withdrew from the race, since it is the commune of President Gabriel Boricwho did not vote yesterday because he started his tour of Europe.
At the same time, the FA-PC kept other symbolic areas, such as Providencia, with the councilor Macarena Fernandez (FA); La Florida, with the deputy director of the Division of Social Organizations, Nicolas Hurtado (PC); or Peñalolén, with Miguel Concha (FA).
The defeats were particularly painful for the PS, which was betting on winning in large communes, such as Providencia, Talca and La Granja. In the first of them, they were confident of having a good result, since their letter, Maria Fernanda Villegasserved as a minister during the second government of the former president Michelle Bachelet.
Although they regretted losing Providencia, the only consolation, they say in the sector, is that it is unlikely to win that area in October. This, because a majority believes that the dolphin of the mayor of Providencia will prevail, Evelyn Matthei.
The result in Talca also surprised the leaders of the PS, since their candidate in that municipality, Hernan Astaburuagais a former advisor to the president of the community, who, moreover, represents the Maule Region in the Senate.
The case of La Granja is even more complex for the socialists. Even Bachelet he played it for Juan Valdesthe party’s candidate in this commune, being the only letter that the former president explicitly supported: first with a video and then with an audio that they used to call more than 100 thousand neighbors by phone.
However, their support was not enough and the group finished in second place, behind the Christian Democracy.
The relief for the socialists, in any case, is that they managed to impose their letter in Puente Alto, Luis Escanilla. Applicant who, in any case, does not believe that he will win in the October elections, where the opposition takes former minister Karla Rubilar.
A separate case is the Liberal Party, who did not win in any of the primaries he ran for. He Radical Partymeanwhile, won in five communes, but they were precisely the ones they were most interested in winning: La Serena, Punta Arenas and Calera de Tango.
The results raised alarm bells in the Democratic Socialism considering that these primaries are conceived by the ruling party as a measurement of the sector’s strength, which could even project next year’s elections, including the parliamentary elections and the presidential election. Thus, with these results in hand, it is possible to see that the PC and the FA have an advantage, for now, in regional capitals and highly populated communes.
This is how he defined it first thing in the morning Dalivor Eterovicone of the PC candidates – who lost in Punta Arenas – in the New World Radio: “We are on a path, in a construction that for us will end with the next government. This primary, which seems somewhat minor, is the first step.”
For this reason, the dispute between the FA-PC and the SD-DC took on greater relevance as an electoral cleavage. Of these four spaces, only the matches of the Democratic Socialism They met to analyze the results at the PS headquarters.
This Monday, the alliance will meet at 9:00 a.m. to continue the electoral talks at the DC headquarters.
One fact will be key for the coming debate: although the right participated in fewer primaries, they had greater participation than the ruling party, which does not guarantee that the results obtained this Sunday will be projected for October.
