Chamber:
	Senado de la República
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	11 December 1993
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for all the seats in the Chamber of Deputies and for one-half of the elective seats in the Senate on the normal expiry of the members’ term of office.
Background and outcome of elections:
	The 1993 congressional elections coincided with those for President of the Republic. Main contestants to succeed Mr. Patricio Aylwin Azócar (Christian Democratic Party – PDC), elected to this post in 1989 for a transitional four-year term of office, were Senator Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, from the same party and son of former President (from 1964 to 1970) Eduardo Frei Montalva, and Mr. Arturo Alessandri Besa, an independent backed by the Union for Progress (UPC) coalition and for his part a presidential offspring. Mr. Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle won the presidency representing, like his predecessor, the centre-left Coalition for Democracy (CPD) comprising the PDC, the Socialist Party (PS), the Party for Democracy (PPD), the Democratic Left Party (PDI) and the Radical Party (PR). The political parties fielding congressional candidates were grouped into four lists but only the ruling CPD and the opposition, right-wing UPC (made up of the National Renewal Party (RN), Independent Democratic Union (UDI), Centrist Union (UCC) and other conservative parties) were successful. The other two lists were those of the Alternative Democratic left (Alternativa Democrática de Izquierda), mainly made up of members of the Communist Party, and the New Left (La Nueva Izquierda). The electoral campaign was generally regarded as lacklustre, with no outstanding issues or great controversy. Mr. Frei, running under the banner of “new times”, set as priorities the fight against poverty and improving health and education, and indicated that he would pursue the free-market economic policies of the outgoing President (ineligible for re-election). While polling results gave Mr. Frei a landslide victory, the balance of power in Congress remained virtually unchanged, with the CPD triumphant in both Houses but still failing short of the two-thirds majority in Congress required to effect constitutional changes. However, important shifts took place within each of the two major opposing camps: a swing to the left within the CPD and Deputies’ losses by the mainstream RN (nevertheless compensated by gains in the Senate). As four years earlier, the CPD did not obtain an automatic Senate edge, since the eight Senators appointed in 1989 remain in office until 1997. In accordance with the wishes of the President-elect, an agreement was reached between the two major party coalitions in order to reduce the presidential term of office from eight to six years. This reform was approved by the Congress on 13 February 1994. President Frei took office on 11 March 1994 and his CPD Cabinet was sworn in the same day.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (11 December 1993): Elections results
Voters	2,045,681
Blank or invalid ballot papers	171,554
Valid votes	1,874,127

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total	Seats 1993	Gain/Loss
Coalition for Democracy (CPD):
- Christian Democratic Party (PDC)	13	4	=
- Socialist Party (PS)	5	3	+5
- Party for Democracy (PPD)	2	2	-2
- Radical Party (PR)	1	0	-1
Union for Progress (UPC):
- National Renewal (RN)	11	5	+6
- Independent Democratic Union (UDI)	3	2	+1
- Centrist Union (UCC)	1	1	+1
Independents	2	1	n.a.

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	43
Women:	3

Distribution of seats according to age:
40-50 years	13
51-60 years	14
61-70 years	13
71-80 years	4
81-90 years	2
Distribution of seats according to profession:
Lawyers	21
Surgeons	3
Civil engineers	4
Agronomists	4
Professors	3
Ex-military & security forces	3
Economists	2
Others	6