President of Chile

The Constitution of 1980, with its 2005 amendment, outlines the qualifications for becoming president. To be eligible, the individual must be a natural-born Chilean citizen or born abroad to Chilean parents or grandparents. They must also be at least 35 years old^[6] and meet all the requirements for becoming a Senator.

In addition, the president must have the right to vote as a fully Chilean citizen, which includes being at least 18 years of age, not having been sentenced to a severe punishment, not having lost the right to vote due to insanity, not having been tried or condemned for a serious crime or terrorist conduct, nor condemned by the Constitutional Court under Article 8 of the Chilean Constitution.

Article 26 detail the electoral requirements. The president shall be elected by direct ballot, with an absolute majority of the votes validly cast. A two-round system is used. In order to win the election in the first round, the winning candidate's party must receive more than 50 percent of the valid votes leaving out of the count blank and spoiled votes.

The election shall be held the third Sunday of November of the year immediately before the end of the administration of the president then holding office. Should there be more than two candidates in the presidential election, none of them obtaining more than half of the votes validly cast, a new election shall be held. The second election ("balloting"), in the manner determined by law, shall be held the fourth Sunday after the first election, limited to the two candidates with the highest relative majorities. Then, the candidate with the majority of valid votes in that round is elected president. Previously, under the 1925 constitution, the Congress of Chile elected the president in the run-off, including (notably) in the 1970 Chilean presidential election.

Under the 1828 constitution, the president served for four years, without the possibility of immediate reelection for one more term. In 1833, the presidential period was changed to five years, with a possibility of immediate reelection for one more term, limited to two consecutive terms. Then by a constitutional reform in 1878, possibility for reelection became disallowed. Under the 1925 constitution, the president served for a six-year term, without the possibility of immediate reelection. Non-consecutive election was possible, as seen with Jorge Alessandri (president 1958–1964) running a close second in the momentous election of 1970, although ultimately it did not occur.

En el texto original de la Constitución de 1980, el presidente ejercía su cargo durante un mandato de ocho años sin posibilidad de reelección inmediata. Algunas disposiciones transitorias, establecidas durante la dictadura militar del general Augusto Pinochet , permitieron la posibilidad excepcional de su reelección en el plebiscito de 1988. Posteriormente, en la transición a la democracia, el referéndum de 1989 estableció un primer mandato presidencial transitorio de cuatro años (1990-1994), seguido de mandatos ordinarios de ocho años, sin posibilidad de reelección inmediata. Sin embargo, el 4 de marzo de 1994 (una semana antes de que Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle asumiera el cargo), el mandato presidencial se redujo a seis años, sin posibilidad de reelección inmediata.

Según la reforma constitucional de 2005, el presidente ejerce su cargo durante cuatro años sin posibilidad de reelección inmediata para un segundo mandato. Un expresidente puede volver a presentarse a las elecciones tras finalizar su primer mandato, pero solo en las elecciones posteriores a las de su sucesor, ya que no está permitido presentarse a mandatos consecutivos. No existe límite en el número de veces que una persona puede presentarse como candidata si no ha ejercido previamente la presidencia.

De acuerdo con la Constitución, el presidente en ejercicio finaliza su mandato el 11 de marzo del año siguiente a las elecciones. El presidente electo asume el cargo ese mismo día.

Si el presidente no puede desempeñar sus funciones, sus poderes suelen transferirse temporalmente al ministro del interior, quien ostenta el título de vicepresidente . Sin embargo, este no es un cargo permanente. Quien lo ostenta ejerce las funciones del presidente únicamente mientras este se encuentre incapacitado o se produzca una vacante. Si tanto el presidente como el ministro del interior no están disponibles temporalmente, el siguiente ministro del gobierno, en orden de sucesión, asume la vicepresidencia. Se requiere el consentimiento del Senado para que el vicepresidente pueda ejercer las funciones del presidente.

Una enmienda constitucional parcial de 2011 estableció el orden de sucesión presidencial en el orden del Ministro del Interior, Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores y Ministro de Defensa Nacional. ^{[ 7 ]}

Nombres de los titulares a partir de 2026:

Presidente de la República: José Antonio Kast

1. Ministro del Interior y Seguridad Pública : Claudio Alvarado
2. Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores : Francisco Pérez Mackenna
3. Ministro de Defensa Nacional : Fernando Barros
4. Ministro de Hacienda : Jorge Quiroz
5. Minister Secretary-General of the Presidency: José García Ruminot
6. Minister General Secretariat of Government: Mara Sedini
7. Minister of Economy: Daniel Mas
8. Minister of Social Development: María Jesús Wulf
9. Minister of Education: María Paz Arzola
10. Minister of Justice: Fernando Rabat
11. Minister of Labor and Social Provision: Tomás Rau
12. Minister of Housing & Urbanism: Iván Poduje

The presidential sash, used initially by Bernardo O'Higgins, became a symbol of the authority of the first president with the assumption of office by President José Joaquín Prieto in 1831. It is composed of three stripes with the colors of the Chilean flag, it is sewn by hand and measured approximately 75 cm (30 in) long and 13 cm (5.1 in) wide.

From the nineteenth century a single sash was maintained that was transferred from president to president until 1915, due to the height differences between the outgoing Ramón Barros Luco and the elected Juan Luis Sanfuentes, so a new sash had to be designed. Since that date, each president has had his or her own presidential sash, which is used only in official ceremonies.

The O'Higgins Pioche, which is considered the symbol of presidential power and is placed at the lower end of the presidential sash, is a star of five ends of about 7 cm (2.8 in) in diameter, enameled in red. It dates back to the medals of the Legion of Merit and remained intact until the coup d'état of 1973, when it disappeared during the bombing of the La Moneda palace. During the military regime of Augusto Pinochet a replica of the pioche was created, based on photographs of the original. It is only used together with the presidential sash.

The president of Chile traditionally used an elegant horse drawn "Bandeja" Carriage imported from France by President José Manuel Balmaceda for ceremonial events until president Salvador Allende, not wanting to project the image of royalty that carriages now confer, used the black 1966 Ford Galaxie XL convertible acquired in 1968 for Queen Elizabeth II's visit to Chile as his official vehicle with a normally issued license plate (EL-2801).^[8]

Both the carriage and the Galaxie have since been maintained by the state and are now used only for official ceremonies, such as state visits and the national holidays on 21 May and 19 September, and presidential inaugurations which take place on 11 March every four years.^[9]

• 
  Juan Luis Sanfuentes arriving at the Dia de las Glorias del Ejercito in 1916
• 
  Ford Galaxie 500, the presidential car used in ceremonies
• 
  Sebastián Piñera in the Balmaceda carriage on Fiestas Patrias in 2010
• 
  Sebastián Piñera in the Ford Galaxie on Navy Day 2011