June 12, 2008

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Sebastián Piñera of the conservative National Renewal (RN) party is the early leader in Chile’s presidential race, according to a poll by Imaginaccion. 33.7 per cent of respondents would vote for Piñera in the 2009 contest.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Sebastián Piñera of the conservative National Renewal (RN) party is the early leader in Chile’s presidential race, according to a poll by Imaginaccion. 33.7 per cent of respondents would vote for Piñera in the 2009 contest.

Former Chilean president Ricardo Lagos Escobar of the governing Agreement of Parties for Democracy (CPD) is second with 14.5 per cent, followed by current Organization of American States (OAS) secretary-general José Miguel Insulza with 7.7 per cent, and former foreign minister Soledad Alvear with 6.8 per cent.

Support is lower for Joaquín Lavín of the conservative Independent Democratic Union (UDI), current president Michelle Bachelet, former president Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, independent senator Adolfo Zaldívar, and former presidential candidate Tomás Hirsch of the leftist Humanist Party (PH).

Bachelet—a former defence minister—was elected in a January 2006 run-off as the candidate for the Agreement of Parties for Democracy (CPD) with 53.49 per cent of all cast ballots. Piñera was second with 46.51 per cent.

The centre-left 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.

In late May, Piñera, a conservative businessman, assessed Bachelet’s performance, saying that she delivered "a message full of glowing intentions" but "failed to address the fundamental issues of Chilean society."

Bachelet is ineligible for a consecutive term in office. The next presidential election in Chile is scheduled for December 2009.

Polling Data

If the next presidential election took place this Sunday, which candidate would you vote for?

Sebastián Piñera	33.7%
Ricardo Lagos Escobar	14.5%
José Miguel Insulza	7.7%
Soledad Alvear	6.8%
Joaquín Lavín	4.2%
Michelle Bachelet	2.9%
Eduardo Frei	1.5%
Adolfo Zaldívar	1.4%
Tomás Hirsch	1.4%
Nobody / Blank vote	11.4%
Not sure / No reply	8.7%
Other answers	5.9%

Source: Imaginaccion
Methodology: Interviews with 1,008 Chilean adults, conducted from May 1 to May 28, 2008. Margin of error is 3 per cent.