Polls open in Chile's tight presidential election

Sun, 13 Dec 2009

Buenos Aires/Santiago - Polls opened Sunday in a Chilean presidential election that was expected to be very tight and could turn out to be historic as the center-left alliance that has ruled Chile since the restoration of democracy in 1990 faces a possible loss of power. With about 8 million Chileans registered to vote, polling stations were set to close at 2000 GMT. Exit poll results were expected to be available shortly afterward, with the first preliminary official results to be made public later Sunday.

According to opinion polls, the ruling Concertacion - a coalition of Socialists and Christian-Democrats with two smaller parties - is facing a second-place finish and an uncertain fate in a potential run-off, despite the huge popularity of outgoing President Michelle Bachelet.

Conservative multimillionaire Sebastian Pinera, 60, was widely regarded as the favorite to win the first round of voting, with forecasts predicting an estimated 35-40 per cent of the vote.

Center-left Senator Eduardo Frei, 67, who previously governed Chile from 1994-2000, was predicted to get 25-30 per cent, with minority leftist candidate Marco Enriquez-Ominani, 36, polling around 20 per cent, according to opinion surveys ahead of the vote.

It seemed unlikely that any of the candidates would obtain an absolute majority, and with it the presidency, in the first round of voting. If no candidate wins outright, the top two finishers will contest a second round on January 17, followed by the inauguration of a new president for a four-year term on March 11.

Bachelet, the first Chilean woman ever to hold the presidency, has an approval rating of almost 80 per cent as she approaches the end of her four-year mandate. Chilean law forbids immediate re-election, but observers think Bachelet will target a return in 2014.