Nueva Mayoría Explained

Country:Chile
New Majority
Native Name:Nueva Mayoría
Leader:Michelle Bachelet
Predecessor:Concertación
Dissolved:[1]
Successor:Progressive Convergence
Ideology:Big tent
Social democracy
Progressivism
Christian democracy
Position:Centre-left
Seats1 Title:Deputies
Seats2 Title:Senate
Seats3 Title:Communes
Seats3: -->

The Nueva Mayoría (pronounced as /es/), also translated in English as New Majority, was a Chilean centre-left electoral coalition from 2013 to 2018, composed mainly of centre-left political parties supporting the presidential candidacy of Michelle Bachelet in the 2013 election.[2]

Political objectives

Michelle Bachelet stated that a principal objective of the Nueva Mayoría coalition was to achieve and establish a system of universal and free access to higher education within a time frame of six years.[3]

The first time the name of the new coalition was mentioned on 27 March 2013, when Bachelet agreed to be presidential candidate for the primary coalition. On that occasion, she asked that her eventual administration was "the first government of a new social majority".[4]

Composition

The coalition consisted of the four principal parties of the Concert of Parties for Democracy, namely, the Socialist Party of Chile (PS), the Christian Democratic Party (Chile) (PDC), the Party for Democracy (PPD) and the Social Democrat Radical Party (PRSD). In addition, the Nueva Mayoría also included the Communist Party of Chile (PCCh), the Citizen Left (IC), the Broad Social Movement (MAS) and centre-left independents.[2] In March 2014, the regionalist Northern Force Party joined the Nueva Mayoría[5] to merge with the Broad Social Movement and found the MAS Region.

PartySpanishMain ideologyLeader
MAS RegionMAS RegiónDemocratic socialismCristián Tapia
Christian Democratic PartyPartido Demócrata CristianoChristian democracyCarolina Goić
Citizen LeftIzquierda CiudadanaChristian socialismFrancisco Parraguez
Communist PartyPartido ComunistaCommunismGuillermo Teillier
Party for DemocracyPartido por la DemocraciaSocial democracy
Progressivism
Gonzalo Navarrete
Social Democrat Radical PartyPartido Radical SocialdemócrataSocial democracyErnesto Velasco
Socialist PartyPartido SocialistaDemocratic socialismÁlvaro Elizalde

Presidential elections

The Nueva Mayoría coalition was registered on 30 April 2013 with the Chilean Electoral Service (SERVEL).[6]

The coalition held its primaries on 30 June, where Michelle Bachelet (PS) won with 73% of the vote to become the sole presidential candidate of the bloc,[7] defeating the independent Andrés Velasco, who won 13% of the preferences, to Claudio Orrego (PDC), which stood at 8.86%, and radical José Antonio Gómez, who reached 5.06%.[8] The pact got more than two million votes from a total of three million voters, tripling the votes obtained by the Alliance.[9]

Initially, the coalition intended to hold its parliamentary primary elections on 30 June 2013; however, this was annulled because parties failed to reach an agreement regarding their nomination. After several negotiations, an agreement was reached to commence partial and complete primaries in some districts on 4 August 2013.[10]

After the primaries, Bachelet went straight to the election process, in which she competed with eight other candidates,[11] the highest number in Chilean electoral history.[12] In those elections, the leader of the coalition achieved a 46.70% of votes, not enough for an absolute majority nationwide,[13] [14] so she had to face a runoff with the candidate of the Alliance, Evelyn Matthei, where finally she won with 62.16% of the vote.[15] [16] [17] This victory marked the first re-election of a woman in office,[18] in addition to the return of the centre-left government after four years of the administration of Sebastián Piñera. In December 2017 the Nueva Mayoría presidential candidate, Alejandro Guillier, was defeated by Chile Vamos candidate Sebastián Piñera, who was returning to the government.[19] The Nueva Mayoría coalition dissolved on 11 March 2018, at the end of Bachelet's term and the inauguration of Piñera.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ahora sí que QEPD: La DC pone fin a la coordinación con la ex Nueva Mayoría . 2018-04-03 . La Tercera . es-ES . 2018-08-11.
  2. Web site: Acuña. Patricia . 29 April 2013 . "Nueva Mayoría" se denominará pacto presidencial opositor para la primaria del 30 de junio . BioBio Chile. 10 August 2013. es.
  3. Web site: 8 August 2013 . Bachelet aseguró que uno de sus objetivos es lograr la gratuidad en educación en seis años . CNN Chile. 11 August 2013. es.
  4. Web site: 8 August 2013 . Bachelet confirma repostulación a La Moneda: "He tomado la decisión de ser candidata" . La Tercera . 25 December 2013 . es . 23 September 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160923163739/http://www.latercera.com/noticia/politica/2013/03/674-515997-9-bachelet-confirma-repostulacion-a-la-moneda-he-tomado-la-decision-de-ser.shtml . dead .
  5. Web site: Alcalde Jorge Soria y su partido Fuerza del Norte se suman a la Nueva Mayoría . 2014-03-27 . 2014-04-11 . . Spanish . 4 March 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304102921/http://diario.latercera.com/2014/03/27/01/contenido/pais/31-160789-9-alcalde-jorge-soria-y-su-partido-fuerza-del-norte-se-suman-a-la-nueva-mayoria.shtml . dead .
  6. Web site: 30 April 2013. Representantes de los abanderados de la oposición llegan al Servel para inscribir candidaturas. La Tercera. 10 August 2013. es. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130724070531/http://www.latercera.com/noticia/politica/2013/04/674-521285-9-representantes-de-los-abanderados-de-la-oposicion-llegan-al-servel-para.shtml. 24 July 2013.
  7. Web site: 1 July 2013 . Bachelet reafirma que habrá nueva Constitución y apuesta a ganar en primera vuelta . El Mostrador. 10 August 2013. es.
  8. Web site: 30 June 2013 . Bachelet arrasa en pacto "Nueva Mayoría" con un 73% . Terra Chile. 10 August 2013. es.
  9. Web site: 1 July 2013. Siete de cada diez chilenos votó por el Pacto Nueva Mayoría. La Tercera. 10 August 2013. es. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130921061340/http://www.latercera.com/noticia/politica/2013/06/674-530793-9-siete-de-cada-diez-chilenos-voto-por-el-pacto-nueva-mayoria.shtml. 21 September 2013.
  10. Web site: 1 May 2013 . Falta de acuerdo hace fracasar primarias parlamentarias de la oposición . La Tercera . 10 August 2013 . es . 4 March 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304050240/http://www.latercera.com/noticia/politica/2013/05/674-521351-9-falta-de-acuerdo-hace-fracasar-primarias-parlamentarias-de-la-oposicion.shtml . dead .
  11. Web site: Elección Presidencial 2013. servel.cl. 16 December 2013. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130927171813/http://www.servel.cl/controls/neochannels/neo_ch276/appinstances/media716/Declaracion_de_Candidaturas_Presidenciales.pdf. 27 September 2013.
  12. Web site: Récord de nueve candidatos están inscritos para las presidenciales 2013. CNN Chile. 16 December 2013.
  13. Web site: Michelle Bachelet no alcanza mayoría absoluta y va a segunda vuelta con Evelyn Matthei. Duna FM. 16 December 2013.
  14. Web site: Bachelet gana en todas las regiones de Chile y en nueve de ellas alcanza mayoría absoluta. EMOL. 16 December 2013.
  15. Web site: 16 December 2013 . Great expectations for Chile's new president . 6 April 2018 . BBC.
  16. Web site: Michelle Bachelet: El perfil de la líder socialista que gobernará Chile por segunda vez. EMOL. 16 December 2013.
  17. Web site: Bachelet, de perfil. La Tercera. 16 December 2013. 17 December 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131217020605/http://diario.latercera.com/2013/12/16/01/contenido/pais/31-153454-9-bachelet-de-perfil.shtml. dead.
  18. Web site: Con más del 62%, Bachelet se convierte en la primera mujer en ser reelecta: "Chile ha decidido que es momento de iniciar transformaciones". Diario Financiero. 16 December 2013. 31 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160331234628/https://www.df.cl/bachelet-se-convierte-en-la-primera-mujer-en-ser-reelecta-chile-ha-decidido-que-es-momento-de-iniciar-transformaciones/prontus_df/2013-12-13/200557.html. dead.
  19. News: 18 December 2017 . Chile just elected a billionaire president. These are the 4 things you need to know. . The Washington Post . 6 April 2018.