Participation in these primaries required prior registration of voters, and there was no law or support from the Election Certification Court (Tricel) or the Electoral Service (Servel) to regulate them.

He then focused on strengthening his position within the PDC and achieved this by winning a senatorial election in the Santiago Oriente constituency in 1989 and becoming the party's president in 1990.

Lagos had run as a senatorial candidate for the Santiago Poniente constituency in 1989, but despite finishing second, he lost due to the workings of the binomial electoral system.

In 1992, the largest right-wing party at the time, Renovación Nacional (RN), had two presidential pre-candidates: Senator for Santiago Oriente Sebastián Piñera and Deputy for Las Condes, Vitacura, and Lo Barnechea Evelyn Matthei.

The Movimiento de Izquierda Democrática Allendista (MIDA), which was primarily led by the Communist Party, organized an assembly attended by around 2,000 people to nominate their candidate from a list of five names: Eduardo Gutiérrez, Manuel Cabieses, Communist leader Gladys Marín, Deputy Mario Palestro (who withdrew before the vote during the assembly), and priest Eugenio Pizarro.

[7] Pizarro's campaign was known for its aggressive and tough tone, representing the left wing that identified with the policies of the Salvador Allende-led Popular Unity government.

Manfred Max-Neef, an independent ecologist and economist, was also a candidate for the election with support from various social organizations, Mapuche communities, and sectors of the Christian Left, MAPU, and the Workers' Party.

[8] His campaign aimed to give voice to issues that were absent from public opinion, strengthen civil society, and create a scaled economy as an alternative to the alleged prevailing neoliberalism.

José Piñera launched his candidacy in January, but when he realized that Unión por el Progreso de Chile closed its doors to him, he continued on his own path.

He accused the process of being a ploy to prevent his participation as a candidate and finally called for casting a null vote in the presidential elections.