COLUMN | José Antonio Kast and the Idea of Good Right-Wing Governance

Everything indicates that José Antonio Kast will win next Sunday, and it will be by a significant margin, which is normal in a runoff election; just look at 2021, when Boric obtained around 56%, or the previous one in 2017, when Piñera received 55%.

The percentage and the number of votes in a runoff matter, but the truth is that they do not. Clearly, if Kast wins, he will be the most voted President in Chile, but that will be a result of mandatory voting and the runoff; the reality is that his levels of support will effectively be the 3.1 million votes he received in the first round plus a significant portion of the 1.8 million from Johannes Kaiser. To those nearly 4.9 million, we can add the 1.6 million from Evelyn, who will be available to defeat the communist candidate, seek Chile’s economic recovery, and develop a comprehensive security agenda, as long as it is not a copy of what Bukele has done in El Salvador.

As historical evidence shows, the support a candidate receives in the first round is their only 100% loyal base. It can be debated to what extent Kaiser’s vote will align with Kast, but clearly, the vote from Chile Vamos and its associates is a vote aimed at preventing Jeannette Jara from reaching La Moneda, a vote that will agree with an emergency government in economic and security matters, but not much more than that.

Clearly, an alliance can be established with the center-right and other parties, but it will never be the same as the base that originally supports the candidate both in popular votes and in Congress.where it is clear that the Republicans have more representation than before, but they are not a majority and depend on the rest of the right to govern, pass laws, and fix Chile in a way that is acceptable to everyone and not just the Republicans.

So far everything indicates that José Antonio Kast is reaching the presidency because Boric’s government was very poor, because the economy is not generating traction, and insecurity has reached levels where the perception of safety is at a low. That is to say, understanding that there may have been different important factors when Sebastián Piñera was elected, he arrives under similar conditions, arriving because poor leftist governments allow for alternation in power to the right, which, after not delivering governments as poor as those of Bachelet or Boric, did not meet expectations, allowing the left to be elected again.

We all understand that the poor economic situation and insecurity will be what elects Kast, and they choose him, not Kaiser and not Matthei, because among all the candidates, he generated the most perception of competence in those combined areas, although individually the others might have been better in their respective fields.

We all hope that Kast can hand over the government to a right-wing candidate, but for that, in addition to selecting good ministers, undersecretaries, and advisors, he must dedicate a lot of time to solidifying the governing alliance that will support him in power. Kast must be the head of state, head of government, and head of the alliance. He should try to resemble what Ricardo Lagos or Eduardo Frei RT were, presidents who clearly understood those three roles, with the latter being the most complex to fulfill, one that involves yielding, negotiating, and accepting different positions.

José Antonio Kast Rist as President of Chile is no longer just the leader of the Republicans; he is the President of Chile, head of its executive branch, and leader of the right-wing alliance, an alliance that, despite the votes received, does not have a majority in Congress and will only have the favor of Chileans as he fixes the economy and security, which is much more than just an issue of illegal immigration, transnational organized crime, and Mapuche insurgency in the Southern Macrozone. It is a matter of security in the cities and neighborhoods of Chile, of being able to go out without having your cellphone stolen, of going out without being ambushed, of not being a victim of carjacking or robbery. We are talking about regaining lost freedom, of being sovereign in our own land.

I wish it were as simple as closing the border with a shield or similar actions. We are talking about having a national security strategy that seeks to ensure a safe Chile both internally and externally, a public security strategy that improves perceptions of insecurity and not just locks up drug traffickers and members of organized crime, and having a robust intelligence system that prevents us from experiencing criminal outbreaks like those of 2019, or situations like those we have lived through on the northern and northeastern borders over the past 10 years.

Kast must convene the right and center-right parties on December 15. He must have them sign a government pact in which priorities are made clear and where everyone agrees that he will appoint whoever he wants to the main government positions, where merit and the desire to serve Chile are the only requirements. No quotas, no favoritism, and no cronyism. Only the best professionals, only those who know, only the capable. Emergencies demand it.

The goal of JAK’s government must be first to fix Chile, the equivalent of bringing an injured person into the emergency room, and then to address deeper issues, which are currently subordinated to insecurity and lack of economic dynamism. Secondly, to hand over the government to a right-wing candidate; otherwise, it will be another defeat like the two recent ones suffered.

José Antonio, good luck and success on December 14. You have the support of many Chileans, including mine. Everyone working with you from December 15 for the good of the homeland.

Virgin of Carmen, Queen of Chile, save your people who cry out to You!