MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chilean Sunday local elections will test parties' strength

More than eight million Chileans have the right to vote this Sunday for their mayors and city council representatives in the country's 345 municipalities. While the election results will not officially reflect on the 2009 presidential race, the political parties – right, left and centre – are hotly contesting the municipal races and will surely use the final vote tallies to tout their relative strength on the national political scene.

The races normally divide between adherents of the governing centre-left Concertación coalition, and partisans of the centre-right Alliance Coalition. The Concertación includes the Christian Democratic Party (DC), the Party for Democracy (DC), the Socialist Party (PS) and the Radical Party (PRSD). The Alliance includes the National Renovation Party (RN) and the Independent Democratic Union party (UDI). Hoping not to create false expectations, the major parties have all down-sized their electoral expectations – with the Concertación's centrist DC saying they hope to garner 15% of the vote. The PPD is hoping for 11% electoral support, the PS 10% and the PRSD, 7%. The Alliance's centre-right RN says it expects to get 21% of the vote, while its hard-right ally, the UDI, is aiming for 20%. There is a new wrinkle this year, however, with the newly formed Chile First (CP) party and the Independent Regional Party (PRI) making a serious bid for city government positions. Both are largely formed by disaffected Concertacionistas and should they be successful on the local level this Sunday, they may well have an important role to play in the 2009 national elections. Finally, Chile's often-forgotten Communist Party hopes to play a larger presence in Sunday's city elections – the result of a strategic pact it negotiated with the Concertación parties. Chile's controversial "binomial-majoritarian" election law, a legacy of the Pinochet regime have made it especially difficult for smaller parties like the PC to win elections. Most political analysts will be focusing Sunday on the so-called emblematic races occurring in the nation's most important cities: the capital Santiago, Valparaíso, Concepción, Viña del Mar, Valdivia, and Puerto Montt. Four candidates are facing off for the Santiago mayor position. They are Pablo Zalaquet (UDI), Jaime Ravinet (DC), Ricardo Israel (PRI) and Manuel Hernández from the Comunist Party (PC). Incumbent Raúl Alcaíno is stepping down. Zalaquet was La Florida's major until this year. His performance as a local authority and his media charisma has helped him to gain voter sympathy. He appears to have the best chance of thwarting Ravinet's bid to return to a post he once held several years ago. A recent Opina survey gave the UDI candidate 33.3%, slightly ahead of Ravinet, who polled 30%. PRI and PC candidates polled 18.3% and 2.9%, respectively. In Valparaíso, incumbent mayor Aldo Cornejo (DC) is seeking re-election. Polls show Cornejo comfortably ahead of his closest challenger, the UDI'S Jorge Castro. Viña del Mar's Mayor Virginia Reginato (UDI) is also seeking re-election, working hard to beat back a strong challenge by Juan Arriagada (DC). Reginato has been plagued by bad press all year, linking her to alleged corruption. In Concepción, Chile's second largest city, the election has focused on Mayor Jacqueline Van Rysselberghe, a rising star in the UDI. She has governed Concepción since 2000, when she beat incumbent mayor Ariel Ulloa (PS). Further to the south in Valdivia and Puerto Montt the Concertación-Alianza struggle is also playing out fiercely. Valdivia mayor Bernardo Berger (RN) is in a close race with Gloria Cifuentes (PPD) and Hugo Gerter from the Humanist Party (PH). The Puerto Montt race has three contenders, although incumbent Rabindranath Quinteros (PS) appears to have a strong lead over strongest competitor, the UDI's Alfonso Bernales. The decisions taken by Chile's 8,110,265 registered voters this Sunday will have a large impact on next year's presidential election. Sunday's vote is not compulsory. (STimes)