Broad Front (Chile)

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Broad Front
Frente Amplio
LeaderGabriel Boric
Founded21 January 2017; 7 years ago (2017-01-21)
HeadquartersSantiago de Chile
Ideology Democratic socialism
Progressivism
Radical democracy[1]
Factions:
Autonomism
Social democracy
Political positionLeft-wing[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]
National affiliationApruebo Dignidad
Chamber of Deputies
23 / 155
Senate
1 / 50
Mayors
13 / 345
Website
[1]

The Broad Front (Spanish: Frente Amplio, FA) is a Chilean political coalition founded in early 2017, composed of left-wing parties and movements. Its first electoral contest was the 2017 Chilean general election, where their presidential candidate Beatriz Sánchez came third with 20% of the vote in the first round of election (she just missed getting to the second-round run-off by 3%). The Broad Front also expanded their electoral representation to 20 deputies (out of 155), 1 senator (out of 43) and 21 out of 278 Regional Councillors, thus consolidating the movement as the 'third force' in Chilean politics.

Platform and ideology[edit]

The Broad Front's adheres to the following principles:

1. We believe in a Chile for all, respectful of the environment and where social rights are the basis of a full democracy. 2. We believe that a society of rights is only possible by overcoming the current neoliberal economic model. 3. To meet these objectives, we believe in the need to generate a transformative political and social force that is an alternative to the duopoly formed by the right and the New Majority. 4. We believe in unity in the diversity of the forces of change, with a participatory, democratic and plural vocation capable of acting with total independence from corporate power. 5. We believe in participatory democracy, which is why we will build our program in an open and binding way.[10]

In one Broad Front political program, various proposals were put forward such as promoting more sustainable economic development:

“The regulation of the economic system must be oriented towards sustainable and responsible production and development with our environment. We do not conceive of our planet as an area containing resources, but as a home in danger due to the indiscriminate exploitation of human beings on earth. For the most part, countries – even the biggest polluters – recognize the crisis and the need to act. However, they do not offer solutions that herald significant alterations to the model of “progress”, growth and development that has deteriorated our collective home. Energy efficiency, the generation of sustainable energy and the promotion of citizen and human responsibility constitute the pillars of the changes that we must build for the good of future generations of the planet. In this framework, we will propose a critical and purposeful vision of the extractive nature of the global capitalist system and from there we will design effective actions to build more environmentally just societies. Although our country has always been sensitive and aware of the problem of climate change, there is no supervisory body that evaluates compliance with the emissions control goals to which it adheres internationally (for example, the initiatives committed in 2016 through the Paris Agreement). Due to the geographical particularities of Chile, which strongly expose us to the negative manifestations of climate change, we will be an exemplary actor in the region by creating an institutional framework that assumes this lack.” [11]

Although it has the same name as the center-left coalition from Uruguay, political analysts tend to see the Broad Front as more similar to the Spanish left-wing populist party Podemos.[12] Diverging views exist within the coalition. Some members, such as Liberal Vlado Mirosevic argued the coalition cannot be "broad" if it only includes left-leaning forces.[13] On the other hand, presidential primary candidate Alberto Mayol highlighted the fact that a clear "leftist tradition" exists in most of the coalition members.[14]

History[edit]

The Broad Front's origins lay in the 2011 Chilean student movement, the second biggest social protest in the country's recent history since the restoration of democracy in 1990. Student demands centered on the right to free education and led to months of school and university occupations across Chile, which continued for several years. Within the student movement, new political forces began to emerge, displacing traditional forces (such as the Communist Youth and center-left groups) at the head of high school and university unions and federations. Among them where Giorgio Jackson at the Catholic University and Gabriel Boric at the University of Chile.

In the 2014 Chilean general election, both Jackson and Boric became MPs after running as independents and defying both traditional coalitions: the center-right Chile Vamos and the center-left Nueva Mayoría (formerly, Concertación). Along with Vlado Mirosevic (Liberal Party), Jackson and Boric were currently the only Broad Front MPs at the moment of the alliance's constitution.

At early 2016, it was reported that Boric and Jackson held talks with several political and social movements in order to create a "broad left front" of anti-establishment forces, aiming to have a parliamentary list and a presidential candidate for the 2017 general elections.[15] By August 2016, Boric's Autonomist Movement and Jackson's Democratic Revolution made a formal alliance with the Libertarian Left, New Democracy and the Humanist Party.[16] After the October 2016 municipal elections, Jorge Sharp (from the Autonomist Movement) became the first political independent to rule Chile's third largest city: Valparaiso. Sharp's rise began as a grassroots initiative, running with several other left-wing candidates in a "citizen primary", described by The Guardian as a "quiet revolution against politics-as-usual".[17]

In January 2017 the Broad Front was formally established by eleven political forces.[18] Discussions began on how to choose a presidential nominee. Initially, the coalition was in favor of implementing an online referendum, but later decided in favor of participating in the legal primary process, since this would give them the chance to engage in a real electoral test and obtain national coverage at the same level as their well-established rival political coalitions. Since most of the Broad Front forces were movements lacking official status as political parties, the bloc decided to collect thousands of signatures to grant Democratic Revolution official political party status and use it to apply for the primaries. In May 2017, Democratic Revolution submitted close to 49 thousand signatures to the Electoral Service, thus qualifying for implementing primaries.[19]

In June 2017, Constanza Valdés became the spokesperson for the Broad Front. She was the first trans spokesperson for a political organization.[20]

The primaries took place as part of the July 2017 Chilean presidential primaries. Beatriz Sanchez, a popular journalist nominated by the majority of the Broad Front forces, obtained 67.56%, beating sociologist Alberto Mayol, who obtained 32.44%. 327,716 people voted in the Broad Front primary (a small number compared to the 1,418,138 who decided to vote for the right-wing Chile Vamos candidates).[21]

As of September 2017 — and according to several opinion polls — Beatriz Sanchez was fighting closely with Nueva Mayoría candidate, Alejandro Guillier, to make it into the second round of and face businessman and former president Sebastián Piñera.[22]

The Broad Front presented several candidates for the Chamber of Deputies and Regional Councils, as well as some for the Senate. Among the notable figures were (besides those currently serving as MPs at that time) former presidential candidate Tomás Hirsch, journalist Pamela Jiles, student leaders such as former FECh president Camila Rojas and several others.[23]

Finally, in the November general election, Sánchez came third with 20% of the vote — just missing getting into the second-round by 3%. This was the best performance of any non-traditional left-wing candidate since the return to democracy. The Broad Front also expanded their electoral representation from 3 to 20 deputies, one senator and 21 Regional Counselors, thus consolidating the alliances as the "third force" of Chilean politics.

Composition[edit]

The coalition consists of four political parties and movements:

Party Spanish Leader Deputies Senators
Democratic Revolution Revolución Democrática (RD) Diego Vela
7 / 155
1 / 43
Social Convergence Convergencia Social (CS) Gabriel Boric
10 / 155
0 / 43
Commons Comunes Marco Velarde
4 / 155
0 / 43

Former members[edit]

Party Spanish
Country Party PAIS
Libertarian Left Izquierda Libertaria (IL)
Equality Party Partido Igualdad (PI)
Humanist Party Partido Humanista (PH)
Liberal Party Partido Liberal (PL)
Green Ecologist Party Partido Ecologista Verde (PEV)

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Radicalize democracy from social movements. The comparative cases of Podemos in Spain and the Broad Front in Chile". Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  2. ^ "Chile polls pit billionaire against ex-news anchor". BBC News. 18 November 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  3. ^ Kozak, Piotr (21 November 2017). "Chile faces new political landscape as leftwingers dent billionaire Piñera's hopes". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  4. ^ TVEVAD, Jesper (April 2019). "Chile: the government struggles to implement its reform programme" (PDF). European Parliament. Retrieved 22 October 2019. She stood for the Broad Front (Frente Amplio), a left-wing coalition of six political parties and various social and political movements, which took a critical line against both Michelle Bachelet's governing centre-left coalition and the opposition.
  5. ^ Le Saux, Marianne (21 December 2017). "Chile is Not Saved". NACLA. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  6. ^ Encarnación, Omar (9 May 2018). "The Rise and Fall of the Latin American Left". The Nation. Archived from the original on 12 November 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  7. ^ Sanders, Philip (22 August 2017). "Why Chile's Election Could Still Deliver a Surprise". Bloomberg. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  8. ^ Bellolio, Cristóbal (28 November 2017). "Chile heads into presidential runoff with a transformed political landscape". The Conversation. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  9. ^ Slattery, Gram (3 July 2017). "Chile's Pinera cruises to primary win, solidifying front-runner status". Reuters. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  10. ^ ¿Quiénes Somos?
  11. ^ EL PROGRAMA DE MUCHOS, P.65-66
  12. ^ S.A.P., El Mercurio (2017-05-19). "¿Podemos o Uruguay?: Expertos analizan el origen de "la inspiración" del Frente Amplio | Emol.com". Emol (in Spanish). Retrieved 2017-09-15.
  13. ^ "Vlado Mirosevic y el Partido Liberal advierten al Frente Amplio: "No puede ser sólo de izquierda"". www.facebook.com/eldesconciertocl/ (in Spanish). Retrieved 2017-09-15.
  14. ^ "Alberto Mayol: "No podemos renegar que somos una coalición de izquierda" « Diario y Radio Uchile". radio.uchile.cl (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2017-09-15.
  15. ^ "Jackson y Boric dan los primeros pasos para formar un frente amplio de izquierda — Revista Qué Pasa". Revista Qué Pasa (in European Spanish). 2016-01-20. Retrieved 2017-09-15.
  16. ^ "EyN: RD y Boric oficializan nuevo referente y se distancian de Nueva Mayoría". www.economiaynegocios.cl. Retrieved 2017-09-15.
  17. ^ Franklin, Jonathan (2016-10-21). "Chile's young independents lead quiet revolution against politics-as-usual". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-09-15.
  18. ^ "El Frente Amplio lanzó plataforma con once agrupaciones". Retrieved 2017-09-15.
  19. ^ Comunicaciones, Compañia Chilena de. "Frente Amplio inscribió sus primarias ante el Servel". Cooperativa.cl (in Spanish). Retrieved 2017-09-15.
  20. ^ "Constanza Valdés, primera mujer trans en ser vocera de una coalición política, critica la ignorancia en el Congreso". El Desconcierto (in Spanish). June 16, 2017. Retrieved August 18, 2018.
  21. ^ Comunicaciones, Compañia Chilena de. "Sin sorpresas: Sebastián Piñera y Beatriz Sánchez son los ganadores de las primarias". Cooperativa.cl (in Spanish). Retrieved 2017-09-15.
  22. ^ S.A.P., El Mercurio (2017-09-01). "¿Empatados? Beatriz Sánchez disputa codo a codo el segundo lugar con Alejandro Guillier | Emol.com". Emol (in Spanish). Retrieved 2017-09-15.
  23. ^ "Estas son todas las candidaturas del Frente Amplio al Parlamento". www.facebook.com/eldesconciertocl/ (in Spanish). Retrieved 2017-09-15.

External links[edit]

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