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Following the new electoral calendar, modified in the wake of the pandemic, next September 30 the parties will have to register the candidacies of mayors and regional governors that they will participate in the legal primaries for both elections.
That is why, five months after that milestone, the Chile Vamos parties have internally alerted the fact that the mayor of Las Condes, Joaquín Lavín – long ago become the best-looking letter in the sector for the presidential election according to opinion polls – you will have to make a decision before that date. And you have at least three options.
The first is that Lavín go for reelection by Las Condes. In case he decides that, several in the ruling party point out that a municipal primary would not be necessary since the current mayor would have assured victory in Las Condes.
The second is that it rejects applying again to the municipality and in September announces a presidential candidacy. This would allow primaries to exist in Chile Vamos to find a letter to be the candidate competing for Las Condes. Both RN and Evópoli look favorably on taking over that municipality.
However, there is a third option for the former minister: that he go to re-election in the mayor’s office and also compete in a possible presidential primary in Chile Vamos. However, the little difference between the municipal election (April 11, 2021) and the registration of the presidential primaries (May 5, 2021) has generated a discussion in the ruling party about how much it would damage Lavín’s image if he took that option.
Last week, the president of the UDI, Jacqueline van Rysselberghe, he pointed out to T13 that “it is completely legitimate for us to ask (Lavín) to assume a presidential challenge at least to the primaries. Asking him for this would mean asking him not to go for re-election as mayor. ” The sayings of the UDI helmsman generated strangeness in certain sectors of the unionism as several viewed favorably that Lavín competed for reelection in Las Condes. However, the senator did not want to refer to the issue again.
“It is necessary to evaluate in the coming months what will be the best scenario for Joaquín Lavín to face a presidential election. It is evident that after the electoral change there is a reduction in time and he must evaluate it, together with us, what is the best scenario. Therefore, it would be irresponsible of us to transmit to him what is the best decision that he has to take without prejudice that we can discuss it, “he commented Felipe Salaberry, Secretary General of the UDI, to La Tercera PM.
For his part, the president of RN, Mario Desbordes, believes that “there is no impediment” for the current mayor of Las Condes to compete for his reelection and enroll in the sector’s presidential primaries. “The dates do not cross, there are no impediments, so it should not affect Lavín. Unless from a political point of view someone says ‘hey if you were a newly elected mayor you cannot go to primary’ but it will have to be seen, ”added Desbordes.
In the UDI, several of the deputies who have been historically closer to Lavín, believe that although he has no impediment to do so, he should choose to go only to the presidential primary and not re-post as mayor.
“At the appropriate time, seeing how the court is, you will have to make the best decision. But Obviously it is a complication for someone who wants to be a presidential candidate to stand for an election and then leave office if elected. It is complex for Lavín to assume a municipal election and then a presidential election with a few months apart, “said the deputy Javier Macaya (UDI) to The Third PM.
Close to the mayor of Las Condes privately point out that He has transmitted that he will go to re-election in the next municipal elections. Something that, they warn, has reaffirmed in his last appearances in the morning. And that about the discussion that has been generated in Chile Let’s go has added that “It is not real, it is not the time.” Likewise, the same sources indicate that A “serious conversation” between Lavín and the directive chaired by Van Rysselberghe has not yet taken place.
For Mauricio Morales, an academic at the University of Talca, Lavín must make a decision this year about his electoral future.
“The worst way for Lavín is to go to the mayor’s office in Las Condes again. Since the electoral calendar was shortened due to the change of dates, he must make a decision, since the municipal is very close to the presidential primary, unless Lavín makes the decision to go directly to the first round of 2021 with the support of his party without participating in the primaries, which would imply a breakdown of the coalition, “said Morales.
For Morales, “Lavín must choose between going for reelection by Las Condes- which does not imply any challenge for his political career since it implies staying in the comfort zone- or going for the presidential one. If the polls favor him, Lavín will go for the presidential ”.
For his part, Rodrigo Arellano, an academic at the Universidad del Desarrollo, says that the best alternative for the mayor is that proposed by the RN president. “They are autonomous decisions. No one can be excluded from being a presidential candidate. The best and the one that generates the most citizen support must be sought, ”he said.
Arellano adds that “it is an ongoing discussion. We are in anomalous times. With an unstable electoral calendar. It is difficult to demand the same as in times of electoral normality. I have the impression that citizens have a different perception from that of political elites. This issue is more of the political elites. The citizen will want to have a better ruler, independent if he is a reelected mayor or not. ”
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