Are we going to say YES this time?

People are running, screaming and chanting through the streets, the change is perhaps close for those who seem threatened by the military. YES and NO are the options to go for, is the dictatorship going to be over? Some people look up to the sky in hopes of a better future, the other scream that Pinochet must stay.

Chile has had a major political change in the last 26 years. Since Augusto Pinochet’s military regime ended in 1989 and Patricio Aylwin assumed the presidency post dictatorship. The change relies mainly in the ups and downs that our politics had before the plebiscite in December 1988, where almost the entire nation (92%) voted whether they wanted to continue with the military regime for another eight years (YES) or step towards a democratic election where people would be able to vote and elect freely a new president 16 years after the military imposed Pinochet’s government in 1973.

The results were favorable for the NO option (53%), which lead to democratic presidential elections where Aylwin was elected with a 55.2% of the votes. From there, the liberal coalition Concertación has been in the head of Chile’s government representing centre-left parties until today. The opposite coalition named Alianza represents conservative parties and the main opposition to the actual Socialist government.

These upcoming elections in December 13th 2009 are decisive for Chile’s political future. Piñera, the businessman candidate from the right, has gained important power over the last years, and today he is a threatening character to the omnipresent 21 year consecutive Concertación socialist government. The latest surveys show that Piñera is the country’s favorite with a 36.9% of support, against Frei the ex-president from Concertación (28.6%), Marco Enríquez-Ominami (19.3%) a dissident Socialist congressman, and Jorge Arrate (4.7%) the darkhorse candidate from the left.

The results are still blurry and Chilean population seems to be very pleased with the latest Concertación’s government leaded by the first female president Michelle Bachelet. Though the final results of this 4 year government have been more than pleasing, she would not be up for a reelection, tendency which prevails in Chilean politics. Eduardo Frei has been an exception to that rule; he is the first ex-president who is up for reelection.

Chile’s population is expectant these elections will also mark a change in politics and hopefully give a step forward to political alternance in the government, giving also a chance to the right wing of politics and to see which changes are going to come for our future. On December 13th 2009 Chilean population is going to decide whether they are ready to say yes to a radical change.