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.

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 APC encompasses Piñera’s National Renewal (RN) and the Independent Democratic Union (UDI).

In October 2008, Piñera’s RN achieved significant victories in local elections across the country. For the first time, centre-right parties have more elected mayors than centre-left organizations. Frei served as Chile’s president from March 1994 to March 2000.

Yesterday, Piñera voiced his opposition to a proposal that seeks to allocate legislative seats to a specific indigenous group, saying, "In our country, deputies and senators are elected in territorial units, where every person has the right to vote including the Mapuche people. Establishing quotas for the Mapuche people would force us into doing the same thing for other ethnicities or for foreigners."

Bachelet is ineligible for a consecutive term in office. The first round of Chile’s presidential election is scheduled for Dec. 11.

Polling Data

Who would you vote for in a presidential run-off featuring Sebastián Piñera and Eduardo Frei?

Source: Imaginaccion
Methodology: Interviews with 1,002 Chilean adults, conducted from Jul. 1 to Jul. 31, 2009. Margin of error is 3 per cent.