[ARCHIVO] President Bachelet: “We will redouble our efforts to respond to the demands and dreams of our citizens”

The President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, made a statement on the conclusion of the 2016 Municipal Elections.

“Today Chile has spoken, both in the voting booths and outside, and we have heard the message. We have elected the mayors and councilors who will lead the actions of local government; and at the same time our compatriots have indicated their preferences as to the type of locality they want to live in,” said the President in her opening words.

President Bachelet talked about the results as they affect the governing coalition.

“Today the people of Chile has sent us a double message: Nueva Mayoría, the governing coalition, has lost support in various places. We must take heed of this warning, because it is not unfounded. We have suffered weaknesses in some municipal districts, and as a coalition we have sometimes shown more division than unity on the issues that really matter to our citizens,” she said.

She went on “this election is one moment in a long and continuing history. We are not going to give up on our task, and we will redouble our efforts to respond to the demands and dreams of our citizens. But we have to do things better. That is what our citizens are asking of us.”

The President also talked about the low voter turnout on Sunday.

“In Chile we have been shaken by revelations about misconduct by our political, social and business leaders, and by the incapacity of some of our institutions to respond effectively to citizens’ demands. This has distanced people from democratic institutions,” she said.

To face this situation, the President said, “we must all make an effort to overcome this disaffection, because the weakness of democracy has no particular color; it does not just affect politicians, but the welfare of the whole country.”

“As a government we have taken steps, the effects of which are not yet complete, but are starting to be noticed. They are discernible in the transparency of election funding, in a cleaner city in which candidates’ efforts on the street are more important than a huge advertising budget. We have also produced a powerful Agenda for Transparency and against Corruption. Above all, these changes are apparent in participative efforts to build a new Constitution for Chile,” she said.

In conclusion, President Bachelet congratulated the winners of the elections, sent warm wishes to those who were not elected. She recognized “all those citizens who came out to vote today. They are the reason we do what we do.”