Republican Party of Chile

Republican Party of Chile
Partido Republicano de Chile
AbbreviationPRCh
LeaderJosé Antonio Kast
PresidentArturo Squella
General SecretaryRuth Hurtado
Vice Presidents1st Tomás Bengolea López2nd María Gatica Gajardo3rd José Carlos Meza4th Romina Cifuentes González5th Luis Silva Irarrázaval 6th Catalina Ugarte Millán
FounderJosé Antonio Kast
Founded10 June 2019 (2019-06-10)
Legalised21 January 2020
Split fromIndependent Democratic Union
Preceded byRepublican Action
HeadquartersPresidente Errázuriz 4305, Las Condes
Think tankRepublican Ideas[1]
Student wingStudent Action
Youth wingRepublican Party Youth[2]
Membership (June 2025)18,820[3]
Ideology
Political positionFar-right[11]
National affiliationChristian Social Front(2021–2022)Change for Chile (since 2025)[12]
ColoursChilean national colours: Blue White Red
Chamber of Deputies
31 / 155
Senate
5 / 50
Communal Councils
234 / 2,252
Regional Councils
60 / 302
Mayors
8 / 345
Regional Governors
0 / 16
Election symbol
Website
partidorepublicanodechile.cl

The Republican Party of Chile (Spanish: Partido Republicano de Chile, PRCh)[a][14] is a far-right,[18]right-wing populist,[4] and conservativepolitical party founded in Chile in 2019 by José Antonio Kast, who remains its leader and president-elect.[19][20][21]

The party is socially conservative and in favour of a liberalsocial market economy. The party opposes abortion, euthanasia, same-sex marriage, proposals for a new Chilean constitution, and advocates a tough approach to law and order, gang violence, political corruption and illegal immigration into Chile.[22] Economically, it advocates a largely free-market economy with strong protections for private property, low taxes, lower government spending, and incentives for entrepreneurship.[22][23]

The party rose to prominence during the political upheavals that followed the 2019 social protests and the subsequent constitutional reform process. Kast placed first in the initial round of the 2021 general election, demonstrating unexpectedly broad support for a more assertive conservative programme. In the 2023 Constitutional Council elections, the Republicans won the largest share of seats of any political group and played a leading role in drafting a proposed new constitution of Chile which was rejected in a referendum in December 2023. Kast led polls for the presidential run-off in the 2025 Chilean general election, and won the presidency on 14 December 2025.

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.[24][25]

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.[26] 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).[27]

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 number of signatures was presented.[28]

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.[29]

On 9 September, the party was constituted in Santiago Metropolitan Region, and it was announced that it would present candidates to the municipal elections.[30] 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.[31][32]

2023 events

2023 saw the party win a landslide victory in the Constitutional Council election of May.[33] In early December 26 members including senator Rojo Edwards renounced the party.[34]

2024 events

In January 2024 Deputy Johannes Kaiser renounced after being sanctioned being removed from legislative committees for making explicit that he voted "Against" the Constitutional Proposal of 2023, supported by the party directive. He emphasizes that he wasn't going to participate in any campaign for his option for respect for the party, something which he accomplished. He founded the National Libertarian Party in July of the same year, having the signatures required in 2025 to officially create the new political party.[35]

Ideology

The Republican Party has been described as being far-right,[36][37]authoritarian,[24]conservative,[38][39]nativist,[24]nationalist,[40][41]right-wing populist,[24]right-wing antiglobalist[24] and Pinochetist.[42][43] Political scientist Cristóbal Rovira categorizes the party as belonging to a populist radical right, rather than extreme right which is, in their view, academically an incorrect label for the party, because it is not opposed to the democratic system per se, but rather seeks "illiberal democracy."[44] 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 (RN) and Independent Democratic Union (UDI).[26]

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 centre-right parties began to reach a point of political convergence in the area policies and a perceived collusion in corruption as scandals arose.[24][26] 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.[26] The Republican Party calls for measures to reduce illegal immigration, including building a ditch along the border with Bolivia.[45]

The party describes recent popular protests in Chile as ideological terrorism and frames indigenous movements as narcoterrorism.[24] Regarding economic policy, the Republican Party supports neoliberalism and a market economy, including cutting taxes.[46]

The Republican Party holds socially conservative views of a heteropatriarchal society and attaches itself to a traditional Western Christian point of view, supporting a heterosexualnuclear family while opposing abortion and assisted suicide.[24][26][47] Members of the party have also expressed anti-feminist attitudes.

Presidential candidates

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

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Election year Candidate 1st Round 2nd Round Results
# Votes % Votes # Votes % Votes
2021José Antonio Kast1,961,779 27.9% 3,650,088 44.1% Lost
2025José Antonio Kast3,092,946 23.93% 7,243,612 58.17% Won

Congress elections

Election year Chamber of DeputiesSenateStatus
# Votes % Votes Seats # Votes % Votes Seats
2021666,726 10.54%
14 / 155
336,305 7.22%
1 / 50
Opposition
20251,407,614 13.28%
31 / 155
531,834 17.23%
5 / 50
Government

Municipal elections

Election year Councillors Mayors
# Votes % Votes Seats # Votes % Votes Seats
2021188,542 3.09%
12 / 2,252
83 237 1.31%
0 / 345
20241.422.032 13.81%
233 / 2,256
489.416 4.18%
8 / 345

Regional elections

Election year Regional Councillors Governors
# Votes % Votes Seats # Votes % Votes Seats
20241.528.563 15.70%
60 / 302
1.493.090 13.84%
0 / 16

Notes

  1. ^Formerly PLR, until circa 2024.[13]

References

  1. ^"RN abre expediente para expulsar a Rojo Edwards por participar en el partido de J.A. Kast". CNN Chile.
  2. ^@joseantoniokast (June 17, 2020). "Los invito a seguir la cuenta oficial de #twitter de la Juventud Republicana de nuestro partido. @Juventud_PLR 🇨🇱" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. ^"Estadísticas de afiliados a partidos políticos". Retrieved August 10, 2025.
  4. ^ abDíaz, Camila; Rovira Kaltwasser, Cristóbal; Zanotti, Lisa (June 16, 2023). "The arrival of the populist radical right in Chile: José Antonio Kast and the "Partido Republicano"". Journal of Language and Politics. 22 (3): 342–359. doi:10.1075/jlp.22131.dia.
  5. ^https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/chiles-bosolonaro-hard-right-kast-rises-targeting-crime-violence-2021-11-22/
  6. ^https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/19/chile-jose-antonio-kast-pinochet
  7. ^"José Antonio Kast, a far-right figure, could lead Chile". The Economist. November 23, 2021.
  8. ^""Hay una disputa de época entre Kast, que pretende no cambiar nada, versus Boric, que pretende cambiarlo todo"". BBC News Mundo.
  9. ^ abGarcía, Víctor (October 10, 2021). "La extrema derecha gana terreno en Chile de la mano de un seguidor de Jair Bolsonaro" – via La Nación (Argentina).
  10. ^"El auge del Partido Republicano: el sistema electoral, la moderación de la derecha clásica y las crisis económicas, de seguridad y de migración" (in Spanish). El País. May 9, 2023. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  11. ^[7][8][9][10]
  12. ^Tomás Reyes Figueroa (July 1, 2025). "Partidos de la 'nueva derecha' sellan pacto parlamentario, pero surgen tensiones por candidaturas presidenciales". DUPLOS.CL (in Spanish).
  13. ^"Partido Republicano de Chile – Portal de Transparencia del Estado de Chile". www.portaltransparencia.cl. Archived from the original on April 17, 2023. Retrieved August 26, 2025.
  14. ^"Partido Republicano de Chile – Portal de Transparencia del Estado de Chile". www.portaltransparencia.cl. Retrieved August 26, 2025.
  15. ^"José Antonio Kast, a far-right figure, could lead Chile". The Economist. November 23, 2021.
  16. ^""Hay una disputa de época entre Kast, que pretende no cambiar nada, versus Boric, que pretende cambiarlo todo"". BBC News Mundo.
  17. ^"El auge del Partido Republicano: el sistema electoral, la moderación de la derecha clásica y las crisis económicas, de seguridad y de migración" (in Spanish). El País. May 9, 2023. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  18. ^[15][16][9][17]
  19. ^"Partido Republicano en el mapa de la política" [Republican Party on the political map] (in Spanish). La Tercera. June 15, 2019. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  20. ^"NACIONAL POLÍTICA Partido Republicano: José Antonio Kast inscribe nuevo referente en el Servel" [Republican Party: José Antonio Kast registers new representative at the Electoral Service]. Diario U Chile. June 10, 2019. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  21. ^"Se lanzó el nuevo Partido Republicano de José Antonio Kast". T13. June 10, 2019. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  22. ^ ab"Principios – Partido Republicano de Chile" [Principles – Republican Party of Chile] (in Spanish). Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  23. ^O'Grady, Mary Anastasia (December 7, 2025). "Opinion | It's Republican vs. Communist in Chile". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  24. ^ abcdefgh"El Partido Republicano: el proyecto populista de la derecha radical chilena". Revista Uruguaya de Ciencia Política. 30 (1): 105–134. June 2021. In their ideological core, the radical populist rights are composed of the combination of three traits: nativism, authoritarianism and populism. ... This recap allows to identify dimensions of analysis applicable to the Republican Party.
  25. ^Funk, Robert L (October 26, 2021). "The Rise of José Antonio Kast in Chile". Americas Quarterly. Retrieved November 24, 2021.
  26. ^ abcdeDávila, Mireya (January 2020). "La reemergencia del pinochetismo". Barómetro de política y equidad. 16: 49–69.
  27. ^"¿Inspiración francesa?: Logo de Acción Republicana de Kast se asemeja al de Agrupación Nacional de Le Pen". emol.com. April 20, 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  28. ^"José Antonio Kast junta firmas y logra inscribir al Partido Republicano en cuatro regiones". La Tercera. November 21, 2019.
  29. ^Enríquez Carrera, Jorge (August 14, 2020). ""Le daremos voz a víctimas de la violencia": partido de Kast se constituye en La Araucanía y Bío Bío". Radio Bío Bío. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  30. ^"Partido Republicano de José Antonio Kast se constituye en la Región Metropolitana y apunta a las municipales". El Mostrador. September 9, 2020. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  31. ^Electoral Service of Chile (July 19, 2021). "Solicitud de Extensión del Partido Republicano de Chile XV III XI XII"(PDF) (in Spanish). Archived from the original(PDF) on December 8, 2021. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  32. ^"Partido Republicano logra constituirse a nivel nacional". T13. July 19, 2021. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  33. ^Phillips, Tom (May 8, 2023). "Chile: major blow to president as far right triumphs in key constitution vote". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  34. ^Chechilnitzky, Alexandra (December 4, 2023). "El trasfondo del quiebre en el Partido Republicano". Ex-Ante.
  35. ^"¿Desde cuándo no hablan?: La turbulenta historia de Kaiser y Kast" (in Spanish). Biobío. February 7, 2025. Retrieved February 7, 2025.
  36. ^"Far-right populist, ex-protest leader set for runoff vote in Chile's presidential election". The Guardian. November 21, 2021. Retrieved November 24, 2021.
  37. ^"Chile's Bolsonaro? Hard-right Kast rises, targeting 'crime and violence'". Reuters. November 22, 2021.
  38. ^"Chileans vote in historic referendum on constitution". Al Jazeera. October 25, 2020.
  39. ^"BNamericas – Where Chilean presidential candidates stand ..."BNamericas.com. Retrieved November 24, 2021.
  40. ^"Chilean election throws up 'stark' choice between far-right populist and leftist millennial". The Week. November 22, 2021.
  41. ^"Chilean voters give conservatives an edge ahead of run-off vote". Financial Times. November 22, 2021.
  42. ^"Historiador español califica a José Antonio Kast como la principal figura del pinochetismo". Site Name (in Spanish). Retrieved December 20, 2025.
  43. ^"'MeNiego': La derecha pinochetista abandera el Rechazo". RFI. October 22, 2020. Retrieved December 20, 2025.
  44. ^Cristóbal Rovira: "El Partido Republicano no es de extrema derecha; es derecha populista radical" Revista Pauta. October 31, 2021. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  45. ^Miranda, Natalia A. Ramos (November 22, 2021). "Chile's Bolsonaro? Hard-right Kast rises, targeting 'crime and violence'". Reuters. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  46. ^Elliott, Lucinda (November 22, 2021). "Chilean voters give conservatives an edge ahead of run-off vote". Financial Times. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  47. ^Extracto escritura de constitución partido político en formación "Partido Republicano de Chile"(PDF). June 17, 2019. Archived from the original(PDF) on July 27, 2021. Retrieved November 24, 2021.
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