Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
left wing politician, Gabriel Boric, became the youngest president Chile at the age of 35 after winning the second round presidential election on Sunday (19/12).
Boric managed to beat another Chilean presidential candidate who is a much more senior politician than himself.
Boric is a former activist when he was a student. In 2011, Boric led a student protest to encourage free schools in Chile.
With long hair and tattoos, Boric became a student who vocally voiced the welfare of the people.
The father, Luis Boric, said his son had been politically minded from a young age. Boric is said to have often painted political words such as “let’s be realistic, let’s do the impossible, and excuses make power” on the walls of his childhood bedroom.
“He (Boric) wants to bring about real change in society. He wants to remove many of the injustices that we feel today and strongly believes in it, and that will give him the strength to carry out that task (to become president), I have no doubt,” Luis told reporters. AFP.
After graduating from college, Boric began to establish himself to pursue a career in politics. Although a law graduate, the man of Croatian and Catalan descent has never taken the bar exam.
Boric has been a member of Chile’s parliament for seven years. It became Boric’s first political work.
Boric is a politician of the left-wing Social Convergence party. He was chosen by the coalition of political parties Approve Dignity as a presidential candidate in this year’s election.
The Approve Dignity coalition consists of the Chilean Communist Party and six other parties with socialist, democratic and progressive ideologies.
During the campaign, Boric echoed equality and social welfare. He has even vowed to abolish Chile’s neoliberal economic model that was introduced during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet and is widely seen as marginalizing the poor and working classes.
“I promise to create a prosperous country so that everyone has the same rights, no matter how much money they have in their wallets,” Boric said during one of his campaigns.
Chile is one of the countries with the largest income gap in the world. According to the United Nations, 25 percent of wealth is held by 1 percent of the country’s population.
However, Chile is one of Latin America’s most stable and economically developed countries.
“If Chile is the cradle of neoliberalism in Latin America, (Chile) will also be the burial place of (neoliberalism),” said Boric.
So far, his political opponents have considered Boric to be inexperienced in leading a country. It was also recognized by Boric himself. He admits that he has “a lot to learn.”
However, supporters say that Boric’s figure who is not close to the ruling elite is expected to be able to make himself a leader who is far from interests and can prioritize the welfare of the Chilean people.
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