(02/09/10) - Chileans Expect Good Piñera Administration
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Most people in Chile expect the government of president-elect Sebastián Piñera to be good, according to a poll by La Tercera. 62 per cent of respondents share high expectations regarding the new president, while 24 per cent think his performance will be just average.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Most people in Chile expect the government of president-elect Sebastián Piñera to be good, according to a poll by La Tercera. 62 per cent of respondents share high expectations regarding the new president, while 24 per cent think his performance will be just average.
Michelle Bachelet—a former defence minister—was elected in a January 2006 run-off as the candidate for the centre-left Agreement of Parties for Democracy (CPD) with 53.49 per cent of all cast ballots. She officially took over as president in March 2006.
In January, Chileans voted in the second round of the presidential election. Opposition candidate Piñera of the centre-right Coalition for Change (CC) defeated former president Eduardo Frei of the governing CPD with 51.61 per cent of the vote.
The CPD had administered the Chilean government since the return of democracy after the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet in March 1990. Bachelet was ineligible for a consecutive term in office. Piñera will be sworn in on Mar. 11.
On Feb. 1, Piñera offered details about a telephone conversation with U.S. state secretary secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton and U.S. president Barack Obama, saying, "Both of them spoke about their willingness to strengthen ties with Chile in matters of democracy and human rights, as well as free trade and freedom."
Polling Data
How do you expect Sebastián Piñera’s government to be?
|
Very good / Good
|
62%
|
|
Average
|
24%
|
|
Very bad / Bad
|
8%
|
|
Not sure
|
6%
|
Source: La Tercera
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 500 Chilean adults, conducted in January 2010. Margin of error is 4.4 per cent.