Republican Party (Chile, 2019)

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Republican Party Partido Republicano
Abbreviation	PLR
Leader	José Antonio Kast
General Secretary	Antonio Barchiesi
Vice Presidents	1° Ignacio Urrutia 2ª Viviana Núñez 3ª Marcela Weber 4ª María Idilia Gatica 5ª Susana Verdugo 6° Javier Leturia
Founded	10 June 2019 (2019-06-10)
Registered	21 January 2020 (2020-01-21)
Split from	Independent Democratic Union
Preceded by	Republican Action
Headquarters	Miguel Comas 1805, Vitacura[1]
Think tank	Republican Ideas[2]
Youth wing	Republican Party Youth[3]
Membership (June 2021)	17,685[4]
Ideology	National conservatism Right-wing populism Chilean nationalism Economic liberalism
Political position	Far-right[5][6][7]
National affiliation	Christian Social Front
Colours	Chilean national colours:   Blue   White   Red
Chamber of Deputies	14 / 155
Senate	1 / 43
Communal Councils	12 / 2,240
Website
partidorepublicanodechile.cl
Politics of Chile Political parties Elections

The Republican Party (Spanish: Partido Republicano; PLR) is a far-right political party in Chile. Its founder and current leader is Chilean presidential candidate José Antonio Kast.^[8][9][10] The Republican Party is one of two parties in the Christian Social Front coalition, along with the smaller Christian Conservative Party.

History[]

Background[]

José Antonio Kast, the founder of the party, was a deputy for 16 years, and a member of the Independent Democratic Union (UDI) for 20 years. In 2017 he ran for president, finishing in fourth place with nearly 8% of the vote.

Kast became disillusioned with UDI and resigned in protest, believing that the party criticized former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet too often.^[11][12]

With the base of support he obtained with the election, he decided to found a political movement.

Foundation[]

The Republican Party began as the Chilean manifestation of the conservative wave in Latin America.^[13] On 3 March 2018, Kast held the first meeting of (what at that time was) the new movement. Some time after, on 9 April, the movement was presented at the Omnium Hall in Las Condes, and it was named "Acción Republicana" (Republican Action).^[14]

On 10 June 2019, Kast presented the party to the Servel, the party formation is still ongoing. More than half of the directive is composed of ex members of the UDI. One of them is the only deputy the party has in the Chamber of Deputies, Ignacio Urrutia.

On 21 January 2020, the Servel legally constituted the party in the regions of O'Higgins, Maule and Ñuble, after the necessary amount of signs was presented.^[15]

On 14 August 2020, the party was officially constituted in the regions of Biobío and Araucanía, at the same time violent incidents related with the Mapuche conflict were taking place in the zone.^[16]

On 9 September, the party was constituted in Santiago Metropolitan Region, and it was announced that it would present candidates to the municipal elections.^[17] On 19 July 2021, the party was constituted in the regions of Arica and Parinacota, Atacama, Aysén and Magallanes, making it a national-level party, constituted in all Chilean regions.^[18][19]

Ideology[]

The Republican Party has been described as being far-right,^[20][21] authoritarian,^[11] conservative,^[22][23] nativist,^[11] nationalist^[24][25] and right-wing populist.^[11] Political scientist Cristóbal Rovira categorizes the party as belonging to a populist radical right, rather than far-right which is academically an incorrect label for the party.^[26] According to Political scientist Mireya Dávila the party contain some positions typical of the far-right, but notes also that far-right groups have also found expression in the older right-wing parties National Renewal and Independent Democratic Union.^[13]

The party's ideological doctrine is similar to the previously existing Gremialismo and is the main group of "organic Pinochetism", the new far-right in Chile, with the party receiving more support as centre-left and center-right parties began to reach a point of political convergence in the area policies and a perceived collusion in corruption as scandals arose.^[11][13] According to Cox and Blanco, the Republican Party appeared in Chilean politics in a similar manner to Spain's Vox party, with both parties splitting off from an existing right wing party to collect disillusioned voters.^[13] The Republican Party calls for measures to reduce illegal immigration, including building a ditch along the border with Bolivia.^[27] The party describes recent popular protests in Chile as ideological terrorism and frames indigenous movements as narcoterrorism.^[11] Regarding economic policy, the Republican Party supports neoliberalism and a market economy, including cutting taxes.^[28] The Republican Party holds socially conservative views of a heteropatriarchal society and attaches itself to a traditional Western Christianity point of view, supporting a heterosexual nuclear family while opposing abortion and assisted suicide.^[11][13][29]

Kast has been recognized as the main leader of the Chilean extreme right for several years, consistently advocating neoliberal economics, anti-immigration policies and opposition to abortion and gay marriage.^[7]

Presidential candidates[]

The following is a list of the presidential candidates supported by the Republican Party (information gathered from the Archive of Chilean Elections):

• 2021 – José Antonio Kast (lost)

Electoral history[]

Presidential election[]

Congress election[]

References[]