Pinera to face Guillier in runoff for Chile presidency

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Billionaire conservative Sebastian Pinera will face center-left Alejandro Guillier in a runoff for Chile's presidency next month, electoral agency Servel said on Sunday.

With over 80 percent of the votes counted, former president Pinera won 36.67 percent of ballots, according to Servel. Second-place Guillier, a senator and former journalist, had 22.64 percent.

Chilean presidential candidate Sebastian Pinera delivers a speech after leading in the first round of general elections, in Santiago, November 19, 2017. /Reuters Photo

With no candidate reaching the 50 percent of votes required to win outright, the run-off election will be held on December 17.

"Tonight we have achieved a great electoral result and above all because we have opened the doors which will lead us to better times," Pinera told his triumphant supporters.

Guillier, an independent supported by President Michelle Bachelet's Socialist party, beat off a stiff challenge from an unheralded far-left candidate, Beatriz Sanchez, for the second runoff place.

Chilean presidential candidate Alejandro Guillier kisses his wife Cristina Farga, after the results of the first round vote during the presidential elections in Santiago, Chile, November 19, 2017. /Reuters Photo

Pinera, a 67-year-old billionaire who was president from 2010 to 2014, had been the clear favorite going into Sunday's first round. The second round is set for December 17.

"The result is very similar to the one we had in 2009, and in 2009 we won the election, and we managed to get our country up and running," said Pinera, who campaigned on reviving an economy that has suffered years of weak growth.

"The result completely reconfigures the Chilean political landscape," University of Santiago analyst Rene Jara told reporters after both far-left and far-right candidates polled more strongly than expected among the eight presidential candidates.

Sanchez, who polled around a million votes as a representative of the anti-austerity Frente Amplio party, had given her party "very strong negotiating power for the second round," said Jara.

Electoral officers show ballots after closing the polls at the National Stadium in Santiago, Chile, November 19, 2017. /AFP Photo‍

Although her party had been reluctant to pledge support for Guillier, "they are obliged to do so because they will not be responsible for a return of Pinera to power."

Analysts said Pinera will be forced to appeal to the far right for support in the second round, after extreme right-candidate Jose Antonio Kast polled strongly, taking 7.9 percent of the votes.

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Source(s): AFP ,Reuters