10) LOCAL ELECTIONS
IN CHILE RAISE HOPES FOR LEFT
(The
following
article is from the February 1-14, 2009, issue of People's Voice,
Canada's
leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the
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By Alfonso
Alvarez, translation by Ardis Harriman
At the end of October, municipal
elections for mayors and city counsellors took place in cities and
towns throughout Chile. The results showed growth in the vote for the
Communist Party of Chile and for the left alliance in which the
Communists participate, known as Junto
Podemos Mas ("Together we can do
more"). It is worth having a look at the importance of their success.
Seven mayors
and 80 counselors
were elected from both these groupings with more than 500,000 votes
cast. The Communist vote went up from previous elections; more
counselors were elected along with four Communist mayors.
According to
Guillermo Teillier,
President of the CP Chile, three more progressive mayors were elected
because of the agreements between the various left political forces,
and important gains were made in working class communities such as
Pedro Aguirre Cerda.
Socialist
Party candidate Jorge
Gajardo was elected in La Florida, one of Santiago's largest suburban
areas. With the support of Communist Party voters, an independent
candidate won in northern Illapel, and in the mining area of Lota, a
candidate of the Humanist Party (which also takes part in the Junto
Podemos Mas alliance) took Yumbel. Communist Hugo Gutierrez
almost took
the mayoralty in Santiago's downtown area of Estacion Central. The same
occurred in the region of Los Vilos, in the north of the country.
With this
success, the Communist
Party and the Junto Podemos Mas movement have created new conditions to
demand the end of the exclusion that has plagued them at the national
level, where the electoral rules mean the election of only Concertation
and Alianza por Chile (right-wing) coalitions.
Many
mistakenly believe that the
Communist Party has a vested interest in these elections, and that it
will be looking for government positions. Teillier has clearly stated
that the Party does not seek any special benefits or agreements. Its
objective is simply to bring an end to a long period of exclusion from
the political scene to which it and other leftist parties have been
subjected. The Party must now increase the pressure on the right wing,
which will no doubt continue to deny its support for political and
electoral reforms. It will also be agitating for reforms to the rights
of all Chileans, such as the right to vote for citizens living outside
the country.
An immediate
task is to press
for a Parliamentary agreement so the Party and the left can elect
senators and deputies and thus change the balance of forces in the
Congress.
Chile needs
a new alternative,
different from what is being supported by the Right, and from the
Concertacion government, which
continue to try to entrench the
neoliberal model which has been proven a failure worldwide.
The
Communist Party is on a
different path and is prepared to work with the Central Unica de
Trabajadores (CUT) and other social groups, unions, left-leaning
parties and organizations to forge a major agreement and push for
measures that will mean more than just a change to the electoral system.