Fernando Flores (Left) And Jorge Schaulsohn Lead Supporters To The Electoral Service Office - Taylor Meehan, Santiago Times
Two Legislators Are Creating Chile’s First New Political Party Since 1990
By Matt Malinowski - Santiago Times
(editor@santiagotimes.cl)
(Oct. 11, 2007) Independent Senator Fernando Flores and former Party For Democracy (PPD) President Jorge Schaulsohn took the first step Wednesday to register their new political party, Chile Primero (“Chile First”).
Created by Flores and Schaulsohn in May, “Chile First” will not align with either the governing center-left Concertación coalition or the rightist opposition Alliance coalition. Leaders of the new party condemn the oftentimes very public infighting that occurs in both political alliances and say new political leadership is needed in Chile (ST, May 25).
The two political leaders met with Chile’s Electoral Service on Wednesday to submit the paper work to formally launch the new party - a letter of intent, a declaration of the party’s main principals, the official party logo, and information regarding the party’s leadership. Electoral Service officials now have five days to review the information before deciding if the party will officially gain its new status. With that step taken, Chile First is now legally considered “a party in formation.”
If the Electoral Service finds all the paper work in order, Chile First party members will have another 210 days to gather 35,000 signatures of support, a prerequisite in order to become a full-fledged political party. Chile First leaders disclosed to the Santiago Times that they have already gathered more than 14,000 signatures. If all goes as planned, Chile First will be able to put forth candidates in Chile’s 2008 municipal elections.
After conferring with Electoral Service officials, Flores and Schaulsohn held a press conference to distinguish Chile First from what they consider as the “duopoly” of Chilean politics.
“We want to break the duopoly of Chilean politics, which consists of the Concertación on one side, and the Alianza on the other (…) we are aiming to be a decentralized political party. We have strong partnerships with people in Chile’s regions. We are aware of the fact that Chile’s excessive centralization has not allowed it to develop,” Schaulsohn said. “We are not a party that can be easily classified. We believe that Chile is tired of classifying everything as ‘from the right,’ ‘from the center,’ or ‘from the left.’ We want to be classifying by our actions and by our beliefs.”
"We are going to have a strong emphasis on human rights and, above all else, we will make sure that today’s youth have more opportunities that they do not already have,” aded Flores. “Today’s government is on its way out, and we are going to keep on going strong (…) we have a long-term perspective.”
Chile First’s leaders said the incorporation of young people is one of the organization’s most important strengths.
“Our priority is to promote leadership among Chile’s youth. We are opening a space for Chile’s young people and others who do not identify with any of Chile’s political parties,” Schaulsohn said.
“One of our party’s fundamental characteristics is that the majority of its leaders and members are young people. There is a wide spectrum of young men and women and university students and high school students who form part of this party,” Claudia Ramos, Chile First’s logistics director, told the Santiago Times. “We do not only think that adults should be responsible to Chile’s future. We believe that young people also have a responsibility to the country, and that that responsibility should start now.”
Laura Deniki, a German-born campaign volunteer, affirmed Ramos’ declarations. “I like that it (Chile First) is a bunch of young people coming together to try and start something new. They are trying to get away from what has been considered (the norm of) Chilean politics,” she said. “I think that Chile First will not fit into Chilean politics at all, and I think that that is important. Chile First is something new (...) it is trying to unite people from all different directions and politics.”
Chile’s current Pinochet-era “binomial” system makes it very difficult for smaller parties to gain representation in Congress. Critics of the current system argue that it was designed to give conservative parties greater representation, but the governing Concertación coalition also benefits from the system.
