European Parliament urges Chile to facilitate indigenous candidates

www.chinaview.cn 2005-09-22

SANTIAGO, Sept. 21 (Xinhuanet) -- The European Parliament sent a letter to speakers of Senate and the Lower House of Congress of Chile on Wednesday, urging them to change the current electoral legislation to facilitate independent candidates and representatives of minorities.

The move came a week after the Chilean Electoral Service rejected the candidacy of Aucan Huilcaman, a leader of the Mapuche indigenous people, who wants to stand in the Dec. 4 presidential election.

Huilcaman presented 39,000 signatures to the Chilean Electoral Service just before the registration deadline, but the Service turned down his attempt last Thursday, saying there were only 1,000 legalized signatures on his list, and that was not enough for the minimum of 35,171 signatures needed.

The Mapuche leader claimed that was discrimination and had asked for the support of different ethnic groups to reverse the ruling.

The letter of the European Parliament was also addressed to therest of the presidential candidates: Michelle Bachelet from the ruling Coalition for Democracy, right-wingers Joaquin Lavin and Sebastian Pilera, and leftist candidate Tomas Hirsh.

Chileans will go to the polls on Dec. 4 to pick the successor to President Ricardo Lagos. Also at stake are half the seats in the 38-member Senate and all 120 seats of the Lower House of Congress. Enditem
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Chile kicks off presidential race

www.chinaview.cn 2005-09-14

SANTIAGO, Sept. 13 (Xinhuanet) -- Chile kicked off its presidential elections Tuesday with five candidates registered forthe campaign lasting three months until Dec. 11.

Competitions for 20 Senate and 120 Lower-House seats were also launched.

The five candidates for the top job are Michelle Bachelet from the ruling coalition, who leads opinion polls, right-wingers Joaquin Lavin and Sebastian Pilera, left-winger Tomas Hirsch, and Mapuche Indian leader Aucan Huilcaman.

If front-runner Bachelet wins the December election, she will be the fourth consecutive leader from a center-left coalition that has ruled the country for 16 years.

Bachelet, a former defense minister, would be Chile's first woman leader if she wins.

The left-wing candidate of "Juntos Podemos Mas" or Together We Are Better party, Tomas Hirsch, hopes to surpass the 10-percent support that his party garnered in local races last November.

Although not likely to obtain a significant number of votes, President of the Council for All the Lands, Aucan Huilcaman, wishes to provide representation for the indigenous Chilean people who suffer from discrimination and social exclusion.

In Chile, there are eight minority ethnic groups, which combined total around 1 million people.

It is estimated that some 8.10 million voters will participate in the general elections, possibly the highest voter turnout in the country's history. Enditem