People Profile Marco Antonio Enríquez-Ominami, Chile
Who is he? He is running third in the presidential opinion polls. He is a film-maker, actor and media personality and a dissident member of President Michelle Bachelet's Partido Socialista (PS).
Why watch him? Enríquez-Ominami, 35, claims to represent a younger generation tired of traditional politicians. He broke with the PS after it refused to hold a primary to pick a presidential candidate. While the assumption has been that the presidential race would be between Sebastián Piñera of the centre-right Coalición por el Cambio and Eduardo Frei, candidate for the centre-left quadripartite Concertación (of which the PS is a member), an opinion poll by TNS Time, on 5 May, showed Enríquez-Ominami running on 14% support. Although this was less than half Frei's support (29%), no political commentator had previously considered the PS dissident to be much more than a token candidate.
Date of Birth: 12 June 1973.
Education: Graduated in philosophy from the Universidad de Chile. Also studied film at the Alta Escuela Femis-Paris, France.
Public Life: Marco Antonio Enríquez-Ominami comes from a political family. He is the son of a leftwing guerrilla, Miguel Enríquez (who founded the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria and was killed fighting against the Pinochet regime). His mother, Manuela Gumucio, a film maker, then married Carlos Ominami, who served as economy minister in the first Concertación government (1990-1994) and is currently a senator for the PS.
Enríquez-Ominami made his name as a film director, producer and actor, serving as executive director for the production company, Rivas y Rivas since 1998 and appearing as a regular on TV and radio panel discussions. He has made numerous films and documentaries including “Chile, Los Héroes están Fatigados", selected to open the International Festival of Audiovisual Programs, FIPA in Biarritz, France in 2002. In 2005 he set up Fundación ChileMedios, which, among other projects has organised televised meetings between leading political figures and aims to promote political debate.
Enríquez-Ominami worked on the senatorial campaigns of his adoptive father, Carlos Ominami, in 1993 and 1999 and together they published in 2004, “Animales Políticos", a book about the state of political and cultural debate in Chile. He also worked on Ricardo Lagos's presidential campaign in 1993 and 1999 as well as the 2004 municipal elections. In December 2005, he was elected deputy for the 10th district for 2006-2010 with a record number of votes for the district. As deputy he sits on the permanent committees for science and technology as well as agriculture. In early May 2009 he confirmed he would run as an independent candidate for the December 2009 elections. This means he has to resign from the PS before July 2009.
Timeline:
1993: Works on Ricardo Lagos's presidential campaign and the senatorial campaign of his adoptive father, Carlos Ominami.
1998: Executive director for film and TV production company, Rivas y Rivas.
1999: Works on Ricardo Lagos's presidential campaign and the senatorial campaign of his adoptive father, Carlos Ominami.
2005: Creates Fundación ChileMedios.
December 2005: Elected deputy for the 10th district for the period 2006-2010.
May 2009: Confirms will stand as independent candidate for the December presidential elections.
Strengths: A youthful, media-savvy popular personality, Enríquez-Ominami is well placed to capitalise on the current discontent with the ruling Concertación. The ruling coalition has seen multiple desertions over the last few months by heavyweights such as Jorge Arrate and Alejandro Navarro who left the PS declaring themselves disillusioned with its increasingly centrist line. Enríquez-Ominami in particular took objection to the party's decision to back Frei, who comes from the Concertación's centrist Partido Democráta Cristiano (PDC) as presidential candidate for the ruling alliance. Frei, a former president (1994-2000), is the embodiment of the political elite and believed by many to be out of step with the times. This was implicitly acknowledged in his decision to opt for an overtly youthful campaign team, led by 27 year-old, Sebastián Bowen. In contrast, Enríquez-Ominami, who is campaigning on a progressive platform, is more convincing in his claims to represent genuine change. One sign of the threat he poses is the fact that his unexpected performance in the TNS Time poll prompted the Concertación parties to hold an emergency meeting. PRD President Juan Carlos Latorre, admitted that, while serving as a boon to the opposition, Enríquez-Ominami's candidacy “worried the Concertación".
Weaknesses: As an independent, Enríquez-Ominami lacks any party machinery. Critics say that he lacks credibility and his candidacy is aimed rather at castigating the ruling coalition than offering concrete proposals. Meanwhile Bachelet - who is enjoying unprecedented popularity ratings of 67% - has made her support for Frei clear and criticised Concertación dissidents for dividing the coalition.
Prospects: Enríquez-Ominami's surprising surge in the polls cannot be ignored by the ruling coalition. While unlikely to win the presidency himself, the PS maverick could well play a crucial role in determining the outcome of the elections. Local pollsters speculate Enríquez-Ominami could take 3% of Piñera's vote and 6%-7% of Frei's vote in the first round while in a second round - which is currently on the cards - half of those who would vote for Enríquez-Ominami could back Frei while only a quarter would back the rightwing candidate. His support could well prove decisive, a prospect which has not gone unnoticed by the Concertación; the deputy for another of its members, the Partido por la Democracia (PPD), Ramón Farías urged the ruling alliance to listen to Enríquez-Ominami and attempt to incorporate him into Frei's campaign. Enríquez-Ominami's adoptive father, Carlos Ominami, also admitted that his son's candidacy could have a negative impact on votes for Frei. It is worth noting, however, that with nearly a third (28.8%) of Chileans yet to decide on who to vote for (according to a poll published on 2 May by a national newspaper, El Mercurio), the outcome of the race is far from certain.