Chilean general election, 1989

Chilean presidential election, 1989
Chile
December 14, 1989

 
Nominee Patricio Aylwin Hernán Büchi Francisco Javier Errázuriz Talavera
Party Christian Democratic Independent Independent
Alliance Concertación / UD DP / DR LSC / PN / AN / SUR
Popular vote 3,850,571 2,052,116 1,077,172
Percentage 55.17% 29.40% 15.43%
President before election

Augusto Pinochet
Military

 Elected President

Patricio Aylwin
Christian Democratic

Chile
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Chile
Comptroller General
Constitutional Court
Presidential election ballot paper

General elections were held in Chile on 14 December 1989,[1] bringing to an end the military regime that had been in place since 1973. Patricio Aylwin of the Coalition of Parties for Democracy alliance was elected President, whilst the alliance also won a majority of seats in the Chamber of Deputies and in the elected Senate seats.

From the 1989 elections onwards the military had officially left the political future of the country to civilians to be elected. Pinochet did not endorse any candidate publicly. Former dictatorship minister Hernán Büchi ran for president as candidate of the two right-wing parties RN and UDI. He had little political experience and was a relatively young (40 years) technocrat credited for Chile's good economic performance in the later half of the 1980s. The right parties faced several problems in the elections: there was considerable infighting between RN and UDI, Büchi had only very reluctantly accepted to run for president and right-wing politicians struggled to define their position towards the Pinochet regime. In addition to this right-wing populist Francisco Javier Errázuriz Talavera ran independently for president and made several election promises Büchi could not match.[2]

The centre-left coalition Concertación was rather united and confident. Its candidate Patricio Aylwin, a Christian Democrat, behaved as if he had won and refused a second television debate with Büchi. Büchi attacked Aylwin on a remark he had made concerning that inflation rate of 20% was not much and he also accused Aylwin of making secret agreements with the Communist Party of Chile, a party that was not part of Concertación.[2] Aylwin spoke with strength about the need to clarify human rights violations but did not confront the dictatorship for it, in contrast Büchi as a regime collaborator lacked any credibility when dealing with human right violations.[2]

Büchi and Errázuriz lost to Patricio Aylwin. The electoral system meant that the largely Pinochet-sympathetic right was overrepresented in parliament such way that it could block any reform to the constitution. This over-representation was crucial for UDI to obtain places in parliament and secure its political future. Pinochet declared to be satisfied with the election. The far-left and the far-right performed poorly in the election.[2]

Results

President

Candidate Party/coalition Votes %
Patricio Aylwin PDC/CPD 3,850,571 55.17
Hernán Büchi Independent/D&P 2,052,116 29.40
Francisco Javier Errázuriz Independent 1,077,172 15.43
Valid votes 6,979,859 100.00
Null votes 103,631 1.45
Blank votes 75,237 1.05
Total votes 7,158,727 100.00
Registered voters/turnout 7,557,537 94.72
Source: Tricel via Servel

Senate

Coalition Party Votes % Seats
Coalition of Parties for DemocracyChristian Democratic Party2,188,32932.213
Party for Democracy820,39312.14
Radical Party147,3642.22
Humanist Party35,5340.50
Independents523,3697.73
Democracy and ProgressNational Renewal731,67810.85
Independent Democratic Union347,4455.12
Independents1,290,88619.09
Liberal-Chilean SocialistLiberal Party10,1290.20
Chilean Socialist Party4,2540.10
Independents199,6182.90
Alliance of the CentreRadical Democracy28,6950.40
National Advance6970.00
Independents62,0150.90
Broad Party of Socialist Left288,3974.20
Southern Party45,5840.70
National Party43,7410.60
Independents32,2820.50
Invalid/blank votes358,032––
Total7,158,44210038
Registered voters/turnout7,556,61394.7–
Source: Nohlen

Chamber of Deputies

Coalition Party Votes % Seats
Coalition of Parties for Democracy Christian Democratic Party1,766,34726.038
Party for Democracy778,50111.516
Radical Party268,1033.95
Humanist Party52,2250.81
The Greens14,9420.20
Independents619,5959.19
Democracy and Progress National Renewal1,242,43218.329
Independent Democratic Union667,3699.811
Independents413,7806.18
Unity for Democracy Broad Party of Socialist Left297,8974.42
Democratic Socialist Radical Party1,3300.00
Independents61,3740.90
Alliance of the Centre National Advance57,5740.90
Radical Democracy28,5750.40
Independents91,7931.40
Liberal-Chilean Socialist Liberal Party47,2370.70
Chilean Socialist Party10,3980.20
Independents148,5032.20
National Party53,8190.80
Southern Party47,3870.70
Independents127,9411.91
Invalid/blank votes361,524––
Total7,158,646100120
Registered voters/turnout7,556,61394.7–
Source: Nohlen

References

  1. ↑ Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume II, p262 ISBN 978-0-19-928358-3
  2. 1 2 3 4 Angell, Alan; Pollack, Benny (1990). "The Chilean Elections of 1989". Bulletin of Latin American Research. Society for Latin American Studies. 9 (1): 1–23.
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