Gabriel Boric: Leftist Legislator Elected as President in Chile Elections; Opponent Concedes Defeat
Leftist Legislator Gabriel Boric was elected as the new president of Chile on Sunday, as the elections in the country concluded.
In the presidential runoff between Gabriel Boric and Jose Antionio Kast, Boric won 56 percent of the votes while Kast trailed 44 percent of the country's votes, BBC reported.
At 35 years old, Boric was marked as the youngest modern president when he takes office in March, Al Jazeera pointed out.
The runoff between Kast and Boric came after Kast finished ahead of Boric by 2% in the first round of presidential elections last month. However, Kast was not able to secure a majority of votes.
Meanwhile, DW News said that Boric was able to hold the capital Santiago with a comfortable lead. Since then, both Kast and Boric worked to persuade the centrist middle of the electorate.
On Sunday, an additional 1.2 million Chileans casted their ballots, securing Boric's win and mount him as Chile's next president.
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Gabriel Boric's Win in the Chile Elections 'Out of Fear': Says Expert
Despite winning, a political scientist said that Boric's winning was only out of fear.
"On both sides, people are voting out of fear... Neither side is particularly enthused with their candidate," University of Chile Political Scientist Robert Funk said.
Funk explained that voters casted their bid out of fear that if Kast wins, an authoritarian regression will be in front of Chile or because they fear that Boric is too young and "inexperienced" and that he is aligned with the communists.
It can be recalled that Boric was among the several activists elected in Chile's Congress in 2014 as he led protests for higher quality education. Meanwhile, Kast has a history of defending Chile's past military dictatorship.
However, Boric said in a phone call with President Sebastian Piñera that he will do his "best to rise" to the tremendous challenge of leading their country.
Boric has to face several challenges such as Chile's income gap, which the United Nations noted that one percent of their population owns 25 percent of their country's wealth.
Boric vowed that he will address the said issue by reforming the country's healthcare and pension systems. He also said that he would reduce Chile's work from 45 to 40 hours and that he would also boost "green" investment.
Chile Elections: Jose Antonio Kast on Gabriel Boric's Presidential Win
Despite losing for the president post, Boric's opponent in the elections, Jose Antonio Kast, took to social media to express his thoughts as the result of Sunday's event.
According to Kast, he talked to Gabriel Boric and gave his congratulations for his "great success" in the presidential runoff.
Kast also noted that Boric deserves "respect and constructive collaboration."
Acabo de hablar con @gabrielboric y lo he felicitado por su gran triunfo. Desde hoy es el Presidente electo de Chile y merece todo nuestro respeto y colaboración constructiva. Chile siempre está primero 🇨🇱✌️ pic.twitter.com/AvpBKs0GFT
— José Antonio Kast Rist 👍🇨🇱 (@joseantoniokast) December 19, 2021
"From today he is the elected President of Chile and deserves all our respect and constructive collaboration. Chile always comes first," Kast underscored.
The head of Latin America Program at the Wilson Center in Washington, Cynthia Arson, was impressed with what Kast did after he lost in the elections.
"It's impossible to not be impressed by the historic turnout, the willingness of Kast to concede and congratulate his opponent even before final results were in... Chilean democracy won today, for sure," Arson pointed out.
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This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written By: Joshua Summers
WATCH: Leftist Boric Wins Chile Presidential Election After Far-Right Rival Kast Concedes Defeat - From FRANCE 24 English
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