Myself: What do you think the Concertacion is gonna do in ‘14?
Reblogged from chileanstudentmovement
Hmm that’s a tough question to answer, because the Concerta has lower approval ratings than Piñera (as far as I know). So obviously, in my opinion, they shouldn’t nominate someone like Bachelet or another rank and file Concerta politician for 2014, simply because people in Chile are just as tired of the Concerta as they are of the right-wing. I think they need to find someone who’s basically unknown if they want any measure of success in 2014. If they nominate, say, Bachelet, it would be like the right-wing nominating Lavín for the 3rd time or something, and people wouldn’t vote for them. To be honest, 2014 is going to be filled with a ton of surprises. The Concerta has no one well-known that I think they can win with and the best candidate for the right wing is Golborne (because of the 33 miners episode). But at the same time, I don’t think the right wing is going to win in 2014, simply because Piñera’s government is a disaster (like as much of a distaster, if not more of a distaster, than Allende’s government, to be honest - we’re certainly seeing the same signs of discontent, though at least Allende still had people marching in the streets in support of him, which Piñera doesn’t). In short: people are tired of the political establishment and want to see new, fresh faces, both from the left/center-left and the right. And it would be wise for these two sides to take this into account.
Notes:
Golborne was Minister of Mining when thirty three Chilean miners survived a super long cave in that had them without food or water for weeks. All were rescued.
Response:
I’d see Piñera’s government as less of a failure than Allende’s. The turmoil isn’t as intense of violent, and the economic situation isn’t as dire. Allende did have diehards that stuck with him ‘till the very end, but oddly enough Piñera doesn’t seem to have that merely because he’s done so much to piss off the extremists in his party, like not attending the Krassnoff or Guzman homage and legalizing gay unions; which is certainly to his credit.
Piggy-Back Question:
Considering how well Ominami did in the first round of ‘10, do you think he could be an effective fresh face for the Concertacion, or do you think it needs to be a figure who has openly supported the students completely?
