Socialist Party (PS) Dep. Marco Enríquez-Ominami confirmed Tuesday he will leave his party to run as an independent presidential candidate, despite calls for him to join center-left governing Concertación candidate Eduardo Frei’s campaign.

 

Chilean law stipulates that Enríquez-Ominami must resign as a deputy by July 12 to be able to run as a candidate in the upcoming national elections, likely to be held Dec. 13.

 

“The law is clear: you cannot run to be both a deputy and the president, and you cannot be an independent presidential candidate if you are member of a party,” said Enríquez-Ominami. 

 

Enríquez-Ominami stressed he was attempting to offer a progressive alternative to leading candidates Frei and opposition Alianza coalition candidate Sebastián Piñera. He said he was confident of his campaign continuing through the end of the year and possibly into a run-off second round vote if an outright winner is not decided in December. Enríquez-Ominami also confirmed he would not join Frei’s campaign team, despite significant pressure from some Concertación members, including PS President Camilo Escalona, who accused Enríquez-Ominami of undermining Frei’s campaign.

 

“There is nothing to be negotiated in terms of what they [some members of the Concertación] are suggesting,” he said. “I am happy to discuss ideas, not parliamentary quotas. If they want to talk about the government’s program, I have no problem with that. I’m not going to disappoint the enormous affection and support that we have been given, that I see in the street and on every corner. I will not negotiate and I will not step down.”

 

A survey carried out by business group TNS Time in April showed that 14 percent of those surveyed would vote for Enríquez-Ominami at the time of the survey, while 38 percent would vote for Piñera and 27 percent for Frei. Five weeks ago Enríquez-Ominami was polling at just 3 percent.

 

Center-left Party For Democracy (PPD) Dep. Ramón Farías said the governing, center-left Concertación should listen to Enríquez-Ominami and attempt to incorporate him into Frei’s campaign.

 

“Today the Concertación should listen to Marco, they should talk to him; they cannot exclude him, they cannot make the same mistake they did when they got rid of Arrate and Navarro [both former PS members who left the party to take up presidential campaigns with other political groups],” he said. “I believe that Marco’s campaign is positive; he should be a part of discussions. It looks like the party presidents have started to hear him and if not, he will continue to gain ground in the polls.”

 

Enríquez-Ominami’s adoptive father, PS Sen. Carlos Ominami, admitted on Wednesday that his son’s candidacy could have a negative impact on votes for Frei, saying, “It would be absurd to deny it […] the candidate who is gaining ground most quickly is Marco. There is no doubt about it.”

Still, he suggested that his son’s candidacy could be an advantage for the Concertación in the long term if Enríquez-Ominami unites with Frei in a possible run-off election. 

 

“This is an opportunity for the Concertación to be innovative and be the instigator of a new political cycle which would involve intelligence and leave authoritarianism behind,” he said.

 

Frei himself downplayed the threat posed by Enríquez-Ominami, saying, “They [the Concertación] chose me as a candidate in order to defeat the right wing in December. That is what I am concerned with. That is my objective and that is what I am working on.” 

 

SOURCE: EL MERCURIO, LA NACIÓN
By Chris Noyce