Matriarchy in Chilean style

The centre-left coalition is back in power

On March 11, Michelle Bachelet takes office in Chile for the second time. She easily defeated her main rival Evelyn Mattei. The presidential epic went down in history under the code name "battle of the generals' daughters." There was no sensation. As expected, the socialist, nominated by the centre-left New Majority coalition, an experienced, seasoned politician, won a landslide victory. In the first round, the gap was 21%, with a ratio of 46.68/25.01. Then this figure increased. The victor was supported by 62.16% of voters.

The success is undeniable, no one doubts. The defeated woman congratulated her rival personally, having come to the hotel where she was staying, and wished her success in her high position. So peacefully ended the unique competition of two former girlfriends, the same age, who, by the will of fate, collided on the electoral platform many years later.

The elections were another confirmation that Chile is the flagship of the democratic process on the continent. They have always been transparent, without dirty technologies, fraud, use of administrative resources, lack of access to electronic and print media. The same thing happened now. The only difference is absenteeism. Only 5.7 out of 13 million citizens with the right to vote came to the polls. This is only 41.60%. Probably one of the reasons is that participation in elections has not become mandatory.

It is clear that the low turnout affects, first of all, the prestige of the winner. If it was supported by less than half of the electorate, then this can be seen as a relatively low degree of legitimacy of the hostess of the presidential palace "La Moneda", located in the center of the capital. This is an occasion to think about it and do everything so that by the end of the four-year cycle the rating will go off scale, as in 2010, when she surrendered her powers.

The government included envoys from all parties that make up the coalition. Now he was confronted with issues that needed to be resolved as soon as possible. It would seem, what problems can a country have with the highest GDP per capita in the region, a stable economy and political stability gained in recent decades?

And there are a lot of them. These are the problems of the next, higher stage of development. First of all, it is necessary to continue the set course, to maintain the dynamic growth of the economy, which is the basis of national well-being. According to a number of analysts, a serious challenge for the authorities is to resist the temptation to move sharply to the left, to stick to the middle line, not to shy away from one side or the other. Another task is to overcome social distortions, to reduce the gap between strata, which remains significant despite the successes. The restructuring of the healthcare sector, which requires considerable costs from the population, is also ripe.

It is necessary to establish a dialogue with young people who have been holding mass demonstrations and protest rallies for two or three years, advocating a radical reform of the education system. These actions significantly influenced the socio-political atmosphere. Their consequence was the election of four student leaders to parliament. From now on, they will be able to participate in the development of key laws. This factor can no longer be ignored. By the way, Bachelet has repeatedly stated her readiness to sit down at the negotiating table with the protesters.

Finally, there is an equally important task - to fulfill one of the key election promises, to archive the Basic Law inherited from the dictatorship. Despite the fact that fundamental amendments were made to it, odious articles were removed, society demands the adoption of a constitution that meets the challenges and realities of the 21st century.

Of course, the coalition will have a hard time. Although it has increased its representation by 10 people in the Chamber of Deputies, it has 68 out of 120 seats, and it has retained an advantage in the Senate, but there is no qualified majority necessary to approve key bills. However, recently two independent senators promised to support all constructive initiatives of the authorities. In this case, forward movement will continue.