General elections are expected to be held in Chile in 2025 in line with the constitutional requirement for elections to be held every four years to elect members of the

National Congress ''National Congress'' is a term used in the names of various political parties and legislatures . Political parties *Ethiopia: Oromo National Congress *Guyana: People's National Congress (Guyana) *India: Indian National Congress *Iraq: Iraqi Nati ...

and the president. Incumbent president Gabriel Boric is ineligible to seek a second consecutive term according to the 1980 constitution.

Background

In the 2021 general elections Gabriel Boric defeated lawyer and politician José Antonio Kast, capitalizing on youth disenchantment, anger at former President Sebastian Pinera's term, and a slowing economy in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally a student protest leader during the

2011–2013 Chilean student protests The 2011–2013 Chilean protests – known as the Chilean Winter (in particular reference to the massive protests of August 2011) or the Chilean Education Conflict (as labelled in Chilean media) – were a series of student-led protests across Ch ...

, Boric promised to “leave behind once and for all the patriarchal inheritance of our society,” and take Chile in a more inclusive, progressive direction. Upon his victory, Boric added that Chile under his leadership "needs transparent accounts, an orderly economy, because otherwise reforms we do can wind up being reversed." Since becoming President, Boric's government, where more than half of his cabinet are women, has prioritized pension reform, his proposals to nationalize lithium mining, attempt to enact gun control measures, expand LGBT rights in Chile, progressive tax reforms, and his government's efforts to approve a new Constitution. Since taking office, Boric has seen his approval ratings among voters decline significantly, to less than one-in-three approving of his performance. By May 2023, Boric's approval rating among the public was 28% and his disapproval rating was at 66%. Boric's low approval ratings, combined with the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

's victory in the 2023 Constitutional Council elections, and the rising popularity of Evelyn Matthei and José Antonio Kast in opinion polls, has led analysts to note Kast may make "further gains in the 2024 regional elections and place him as the front-runner for the 2025 presidential and parliamentary ballot." Kast himself, considered to be a potential candidate in 2025, noted his party's victory in the Constitutional Council elections, saying that there was hope for "a major change in government" ahead of the next general election.

Electoral system

The president is elected using the two-round system; if no candidate receives a majority of the vote in the first round, a second round will be held. In the National Congress, the 155 members of the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

are elected from 28 multi-member constituencies with between three and eight seats by open list proportional representation. Seats are allocated by the d'Hondt method. The 50 members of the Senate are elected for eight-year terms, with around half of the Senators renewed at each general election. Senators are elected from 16 multi-member constituencies of between two and five seats based on the regions.

Candidates

Speculated candidates

* Evelyn Matthei ( Independent Democratic Union– Chile Vamos), Mayor of Providencia * José Antonio Kast (

), Former member of the

from East Santiago * Camila Vallejo ( Communist Party of Chile– Chile Digno), Minister General Secretariat of Government *

Carolina Tohá Carolina Montserrat Tohá Morales (born 12 May 1965) is a Chilean political scientist and politician from the Party for Democracy (''Partido por la Democracia'', PPD), currently serving as Minister of the Interior and Public Security. She was p ...

( Party for Democracy–

Democratic Socialism Democratic socialism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self- ...

), Ministry of the Interior and Public Security (Chile) * Michelle Bachelet, former President of Chile (2006–2010, 2014–2018) *

Franco Parisi Franco Aldo Parisi Fernández (born 25 August 1967) is a Chilean business engineer and economist. He received recognition for doing radio and television programs about economy along with his brother Antonino Parisi, and has been nicknamed "the ...

( Party of the People), business engineer * Rodolfo Carter (Independent Democratic Union–Chile Vamos) Mayor of La Florida * Marco Enríquez-Ominami, former Member of the

Chamber of Deputies of Chile The Chamber of Deputies ( es, Cámara de Diputadas y Diputados, links=no) is the lower house of Chile's bicameral Congress. Its organisation and its powers and duties are defined in articles 42 to 59 of Chile's current constitution. Eligibil ...

* Sebastián Sichel, former Minister of Social Development (2019–2020) *

Ignacio Briones Ignacio Briones Rojas (born 12 December 1972) is a Chilean economist, scholar and politician who served as Minister of Finance in the second government of Sebastián Piñera from 2019 until 2021. Prior to this appointment, Ignacio served as Dean ...

, former Minister of Finance (2018–2021) * Johannes Kaiser, Member of the

(2022–present)

Opinion polls

References

{{Chilean elections Chile General General