(MENAFN) Chile will hold a runoff presidential election on Dec. 14 after Sunday’s vote failed to produce a candidate with the required 50% majority, according to reports.

Left-wing frontrunner Jeannette Jara and far-right candidate Jose Antonio Kast emerged as the top two contenders. Jara, representing the Communist Party and a former labor minister, will face Kast, an ultraconservative lawyer and ex-lawmaker who campaigned on a platform calling for an "iron fist" to restore public order.

With roughly 83% of ballots counted, Jara led with 26.7% of the vote, followed closely by Kast at 24.1%. Economist Franco Parisi placed third, but only the leading two candidates move on to the runoff.

Both candidates now face the challenge of appealing to voters who supported eliminated contenders. This will be particularly difficult for Jara, as most of those votes came from right-leaning candidates. She thanked her supporters for their engagement in the first round and called on them to spread “a message of hope and the future” ahead of the runoff.

Kast, speaking alongside Evelyn Matthei — who finished fifth with 12.8% and immediately endorsed him — thanked her for her support and pledged that, if elected, he would address issues left unresolved by President Gabriel Boric’s administration.

The election is being described as one of Chile’s most polarized in decades, set against a backdrop of public concern over crime and immigration. President Boric congratulated both Jara and Kast for advancing and urged them to engage in “a debate with high standards” focused on credible solutions to the nation’s key challenges.

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