(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Sebastián Piñera could become the next president of Chile, according to a poll by Universidad del Desarrollo published in La Segunda. 52.7 per cent of decided voters would support the candidate of the centre-right Coalition for Change (CC) in next month’s election.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Sebastián Piñera could become the next president of Chile, according to a poll by Universidad del Desarrollo published in La Segunda. 52.7 per cent of decided voters would support the candidate of the centre-right Coalition for Change (CC) in next month’s election.
Former president Eduardo Frei Ruiz Tagle of the centre-left Agreement of Parties for Democracy (CPD) would finish second with 47.3 per cent.
The CPD’s Michelle Bachelet—a former defence minister—was elected in a January 2006 run-off with 53.49 per cent of all cast ballots. Piñera was second with 46.51 per cent. Bachelet is ineligible for a consecutive term in office.
The CPD—which includes the Socialist Party (PS), the Christian-Democratic Party of Chile (PCD), the Party for Democracy (PD) and the Radical Social-Democratic Party (PRSD)—has not lost a single presidential election in Chile since the return of democracy after the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet in March 1990. The centre-right CC includes Piñera’s National Renewal (RN), the Independent Democratic Union (UDI), and Chile First (CH1).
Preliminary results from the first round of Chile’s presidential election—held on Dec. 11—placed Piñera ahead with 44.05 per cent of all cast ballots, followed by Frei with 29.60 per cent, independent candidate Marco Enríquez-Ominami with 20.13 per cent, and left-wing candidate Jorge Arrate with 6.21 per cent. Since no candidate garnered more than 50 per cent of the vote in the first round, a run-off between the top two vote-getters will be held on Jan. 17, 2010.
On Dec. 22, Frei called on people who supported Enríquez-Ominami and Arrate to vote for him in the second round, declaring, "We want to represent progressive forces, and we are open-armed and are working with all of them to ensure a good result on Jan. 17. We will summon a presidential commission as soon as we take over government to make a tax reform."
Polling Data
Thinking about the presidential run-off, which one of these candidates would you vote for? – Valid Vote Projection
|
Dec. 2009 |
Nov. 2009 |
Aug. 2009 |
|
|
Sebastián Piñera |
52.7% |
55.9% |
55.5% |
|
Eduardo Frei |
47.3% |
44.1% |
44.5% |
Source: Universidad del Desarrollo / La Segunda
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,203 Chilean adults, conducted on Dec. 17, 2009. Margin of error is 3.2 per cent.
