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Chile shifts right as billionaire wins presidency

Posted on: Mon January 18, 2010

Billionaire Sebastian Pinera was elected Chile s president on Sunday in a political shift to the right after 20 years of leftist rule and will try to build on policies that made the economy Latin America s most stable. Pinera won almost 52 per cent of Sunday s run-off vote, the first time the right has wrested power from the center-left since General Augusto Pinochet s 1973-1990 dictatorship ended, signaling Chile is moving on from the former strongman s bloody legacy. Pinera s victory over ex-President Eduardo Frei of the ruling leftist coalition marks a shift to the right in South America, a region dominated by leftist rulers from Venezuela to Brazil. The Harvard-educated airline magnate takes office in March. The market favorite s win helped boost Chile s bourse to new life intraday highs on Monday morning. Pinera, 60, has vowed to give Chile s state a business-like overhaul to boost efficiency, promising to create a million jobs and boost economic growth to average six per cent a year. The economy shrank in 2009, its first recession in a decade. Critics say Pinera s plan depends too heavily on the private sector generating jobs and banks on a steady global recovery maintaining copper demand. He could also struggle to push reforms through a divided Congress, and has promised to form a national unity government. The problems we face in the future are great, the obstacles we face are very challenging and we need unity now more than ever, Pinera said on Sunday evening, standing next to Frei. We will form a government of national unity which will build bridges of understanding and knock down walls of division, he added, offering an olive-branch to what could be tough opposition from a fractured left. Chilean stocks, already rallying on a recovery from global crisis and high prices for top export copper, forged ahead, buoyed by Pinera s election win. Investors are also watching closely for the promised sale of his more than 25 per cent stake in flagship airline LAN, one of the region s leading carriers, as well as other assets as he sets aside his empire to avoid conflicts of interest. Pinera has already placed hundreds of millions of dollars worth of investments in a blind trust. Support for the ruling leftist coalition dwindled, with voters saying it should have made better use of billions of dollars in copper boom revenues that were stashed away in a sovereign wealth fund. 

Courtesy : The News