It appears that the Concertacion coalition is in danger of losing its hold on the presidency for the first time since Pinochet ceded power in 1990. Inter-party struggles and a dearth of fresh and exciting candidates led the coalition to throw up Eduardo Frei, Chile's president from 1994-2000, as their candidate. Not as popular, progressive, or interesting as Michelle Bachelet, Frei belongs to the old-guard of the party and has not engendered passion among voters nor does he share progressive policy positions of importance to many Chilenos, such as the legalization of abortion.
Marco Enriquez-Ominami, the independent candidate who broke away from Concertacion, has gained the allegiance of the country's left but has failed to make inroads with many voters who may fault his youth, inexperience, or lack of Concertacion imprimatur. He is still polling in the mid-teens. The front-runner remains the center-right candidate Sebastian Pinera whose lead remains around 5% points over Frei. It may get quite uncomfortable for Ominami to stay in the race if the perception solidifies that he is siphoning votes away from Frei. The election is three months away. Below I have provided links to the websites for all three candidates, I give Frei the highest marks for his hip Euro/Socialist/candid photos of everyday Chilenos design:
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
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