In the second round of Chile's presidential election held on the 14th, far-right Chilean Republican Party candidate Kast defeated the leftist ruling coalition candidate Jara and was elected as the new President of Chile.
According to the results from the Chilean Electoral Committee with 99.33% of the second-round presidential votes counted, Kast and Jara received 58.18% and 41.82% of the votes, respectively.
Jara admitted defeat on social media that day and congratulated Kast on his election. Chile’s current president Boric also called to congratulate Kast after the voting results were announced.
The 59-year-old Kast will take office on March 11 next year. With the campaign slogan "The Power of Change," he called for reducing state intervention, cutting public spending, and decreasing corporate taxes. During the campaign, he focused on public security, advocating for the construction of high-security prisons and harsher penalties for criminal groups to improve public safety. He also plans to massively expel undocumented immigrants and strengthen border area controls.
In the first round of Chile’s presidential election held in November, no candidate was directly elected. The leading vote-getters Jara and Kast advanced to the second round. According to Chilean law, a candidate who receives more than 50% of the vote in the presidential election is elected directly; if no candidate obtains more than 50% in the first round, the two with the most votes will enter the second round, and the one with more votes is elected president. The Chilean presidential term is four years, with no immediate re-election allowed.