Former Chilean president Sebastian Pinera cruised to victory on Sunday in the presidential nominating election for Chile’s right-leaning Alianza bloc, consolidating his place as the front-runner for November’s general election.
With 93 percent of votes counted, investor favorite Pinera, 67, a billionaire who governed Chile from 2010 to 2014, had 57 percent of Alianza votes cast, the nation’s electoral service Servel said.
That represented a decisive victory over right-wing populist Manuel Jose Ossandon and the more socially liberal Felipe Kast, who had 28 percent and 15 percent respectively.
“I think Pinera had a very good showing. He has double what Ossandon has,” said Kenneth Bunker, an analyst and academic at Universidad Central de Chile. “It’s going to be a good way for him to build bridges in the second part of his campaign.”
Chile’s relatively minor left-wing Frente Amplio coalition also held its primaries on Sunday, with journalist Beatriz Sanchez easily beating sociologist Alberto Mayol as expected.
Sunday’s results narrow Chile’s presidential field to four major candidates and Pinera’s decisive win will be welcome by the business community in one of South America’s most stable and affluent countries.
Investors blame a flurry of economic reforms by center-left Chilean President Michelle Bachelet for sowing uncertainty.
Pinera’s presidency saw rapid economic expansion, but it was marred by massive student protests seeking an education overhaul.
His administration’s responses were often seen as out of touch and social groups continue to oppose him.
“In addition to getting Chile going again ... we have a clear social commitment,” Pinera said in a victory speech. “We want to build a more just Chile.”
According to a poll last month by CEP, Pinera leads the November election with about 24 percent of the vote.
Leftist journalist Alejandro Guillier of the center-left Nueva Mayoria bloc, which skipped primaries, is in second place with 13 percent.
Sanchez followed with 5 percent, while Carolina Goic of the centrist Christian Democratic Party is trailing with 2 percent.
Bachelet is not allowed to seek a consecutive term under Chile’s constitution.
If no candidate receives 50 percent in the first round in November as expected, the election will go to a run-off in December.
That race would likely be much tighter, particularly if the now fractured left unifies around one candidate.
Turnout for Alianza’s primary exceeded expectations of 1 million votes.
The recently created political coalition Frente Amplio received a more modest 300,000 votes.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in