© Evan Lang / The Santiago Times.Massive education protests have shaped the presidential election, but many students feel unrepresented.
Despite years at the forefront of the political agenda in Chile, and in the wake of Sunday's primary vote, student demonstrators approach November's general election feeling increasingly marginalized.
Student movement leaders have consigned themselves to the political periphery by fully rejecting the education reform plans outlined by either Michelle Bachelet or Pablo Longueira - winners in the left-leaning Concertación and conservative Alianza coalition primaries, respectively.
Some students leaders have gone as far as to form their own political parties, two of which will contest for parliamentary representation. Other student demonstrators have aligned themselves with candidates from outside the political mainstream, includings Humanist Party candidate Marcel Claude, Green Party (PEV) candidate Alfredo Sfeir, Progressive Party (PRO) candidate Marco Enríquez-Ominami, the Equality Party's Roxana Miranda, Gustavo Ruz Zañartu of the Movement for a Constitutional Assembly and independents Franco Parisi and Tomás Jocelyn-Holt.
Education is top campaign issue
While student protesters do not feel represented by the presidential frontrunners, they have certainly succeeded in making education a major campaign issue. Regular marches for free education and an end to for-profit schools, have regained much of the momentum they achieved in 2011. These protests have largely shaped the election agenda, demanding a solution from all candidates. "Everyone seems compelled to talk about [education]," associate professor of Political Science at Universidad de Católica, Andreas Feldmann, told The Santiago Times. "Candidates are aware of this issue and it is going to determine, to a great extent, what is going to happen in November."
Dissatisfaction with mainstream candidates
Felipe Muñoz ,spokesperson of MESUP, a federation of higher education private school students, says it should be no surprise that no candidate has addressed student concerns, despite a high volume of support for the cause (over 100,000 marched in Santiago alone last week).
"The truth is no candidate supports the student movement," Muñoz told The Santiago Times.
During his primary campaign, Longueira, a former member of President Sebastián Piñera's cabinet, called for a continuation of the current administration's education policies. Bachelet's proposals, in contrast, include a pledge to make education free within six years of her election, and the creation of two free universities in different regions of the country.
However, many remain skeptical of these promises, as Bachelet was president during the first iteration of student protests.
"We remember exactly what occurred when Bachelet was president in 2006 during the 'Penguin Revolution,' when students were repressed and violently evicted from schools," Muñoz said.
Feldmann echoed this sentiment, saying that students, "don't trust [Bachelet] to make the changes they think should be done."
Looking ahead
The renewed fervor in the student movement seen before the primaries is unlikely to die down now nominees have been chosen. "We cannot ignore that the duopoly got more votes than everyone expected. Efforts should be greater still," Sebastián Farfán , a former student leader within the National Student Confederation (CONFECH), said on Twitter. While local press reported a higher turnout than expected in the primary election, polling stations reported only 20 percent of voter participation, with roughly one third of votes going to Bachelet. There is no precedent in which to frame these figures for the general election, as Sunday marked the first primary election to include both major political coalitions conducted via the political services (Serval). Marjorie Cuello, the former secretary-general of the Student Federation at the Universidad de Valparaíso (FEUV), believes the low voter turnout is an indication of a widespread dissatisfaction with the political establishment that moves beyond the student movement.
"With respect to the primary, I think it is clear that the political duopoly of our country is not attractive for the vast majority of Chileans," Cuello told The Santiago Times.
Forging an alternative political path
Without one candidate to rally behind and no clear vehicle for their demands, it remains unclear how the student movement will unify their efforts moving forward. "Rather than helping to draw up a platform, it should be clear that today the political parties in Chile are not sufficient, therefore it is impossible to imagine the educational reform Chile needs if it is built from its own protagonists," Andrés Fielbaum, president of the Students Federation at Universidad de Chile (FECH) told The Santiago Times. The consequence of this sentiment is that the student vote will be split, with some choosing among candidates outside the mainstream, and others simply choosing to annul their votes.
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