A Big Day for Three States
Three states will remember for a while Sunday, Nov. 17, 2013. Chileans headed to the polls to vote for a president, voters in northern Kosovo elected local officials, and Georgians watched the newly elected president’s inauguration.
Left to right - Evelyn Matthei, Michelle Bachelet,Franco Parisi
The three main candidates for the presidency in Chile were Michelle Bachelet, Evelyn Matthei, and Franco Parisi. Michelle Bachelet was Chile’s president in the period 2006-2010, and then she became the head of UN Women. Before she became president in 2006, she served as a health minister, and was Chile’s first female defense minister. Evelyn Matthei, conservative, is from the opposite side of the political spectrum compared to Dr. Bachelet. It is interesting that the families of Bachelet and Matthei were friends, but the father of one died as a result of the tortures during Pinochet time, and Matthei’s father was promoted to head of the air force. The third candidate for the presidency, Franco Parisi, is an independent candidate, who, as he says himself, came into the public eye by accident. He posted his campaign on his Facebook page, and is acting under the slogan “Power to the People.”
The most recent opinion polls show Michelle Bachelet’s healthy lead with 47 per cent. However, 50 per cent of the votes are needed for a candidate to win in the first round. This has not happened since 1993. Given that the voting has been changed from mandatory to volunteer, there is little hope for a high turnout.
On the other side of the Atlantic, around 18 per cent of eligible voters living in the northern city of Mitrovica, Kosovo, headed to the polls to cast their votes in the local elections. This was a second chance for three constituencies to elect local officials.
On Nov. 3, 2013 local elections were held in 38 communities. Everywhere, but in the north of the country, the elections went successfully and were overall democratic, according to the international observers. In Kosovo’s north, masked men stormed the polling stations, and as a result the elections were cancelled. This time both local police and international forces were on the watch to prevent any riots and make the elections happen.
Newly elected President Giorgi Margvelashvili (http://www.rferl.org/)
Although the elections are already behind in Georgia, the tension is still in the air. The former Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili, refused to attend the inauguration ceremony of the newly elected president, Giorgi Margvelashvili. The ceremony was attended by over 50 foreign delegations. During his inauguration speech, Margvelashvili promised to continue on with the plans to join the EU and NATO, while also working to reduce tensions with Russia.
Written by Anya Golub
