The ruling parties began talks ahead of the 2024 municipal and regional elections and agreed to some agreements, among them, the incorporation of the Christian Democracy (DC) to a single list with the government parties, having single candidates for mayors and governors, and the slogan of “he who has, keeps,” in reference to not competing for positions already held by members of the alliance.
However, there are discrepancies regarding this last point. During the week, more than 30 figures from the Socialist Party (PS) signed a letter in support of Ismael Calderón, former councilor and current candidate for mayor of Santiago.
Calderón is critical of the administration of the current mayor of the commune, Irací Hassler (PC), and considers that the most democratic thing is to consult the citizens regarding the candidate who should contest said candidacies representing the left.
“Democracy is strengthened with more democracy as we have maintained, and today the primary is the best formula. There is an issue that is not minor, this October election is with mandatory voting, therefore, all previous mayors – including ours – were elected with voluntary voting,” said Calderón.
“Today in Santiago, if we make that mention, the current mayor would represent 13.2% of the electorate, that is, if we see it from that point of view, in all the communes there should be primaries, because the local leadership should be revalidated with other leaderships that may emerge, therefore, the best way is the primary one,” added the socialist candidate.
The former mayor of Pudahuel Johnny Carrasco is also a candidate for the commune that he administered from 1992 to 2021, representing the Socialist Party.
“The picture is already more less defined, there will be primaries in Pudahuel. So far there are two fixed candidates, and it is very likely that one or two more will join, and whoever wins we will all get behind, because the management of the (current) mayor, (Ítalo Bravo, close to the PC) is also very poorly evaluated. ”Carrasco said.
The deputy and head of the DC caucus, Eric Aedo, pointed out that “it seems to me that the principle of ‘he who has, keeps’ can only be altered in a serious situation. For example, a candidate who is currently accused by the courts of acts of corruption or another situation, or who is formalized by the courts. In that case, it seems to me that no party can support a candidacy under those conditions.”
“But if we are going to get creative and start questioning the mayors who can run for re-election, it seems to me that that is going to mess up this pact. In that sense, the DC is going to defend the principle of ‘whatever has, what’s there’, it will be open to primaries where there is no clear candidate to win a term, but let’s not mess up an agreement that is ad-portas to be achieved,” said Aedo.
The parties have until April 10 to register their candidacies for the primary elections, which will be held on Sunday, June 9.
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