Sebastian Pinera Wins Chilean Presidential Election

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SANTIAGO 000050 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON CI SUBJECT: Sebastian Pinera Wins Chilean Presidential Election REF: A 09 SANTIAGO 755; B 09 SANTIAGO 867; C 09 SANTIAGO 1208 ¶1. (U) Summary: In a historic January 17 election, Chilean voters selected opposition candidate Sebastian Pinera as the next president of Chile. Pinera, a Harvard-educated business tycoon from the center-right National Renewal party, will be the first conservative to lead Chile since the Pinochet dictatorship from 1973-1990 and the first conservative to be democratically elected president since 1958. Both Pinera and his rival, former Chilean president Eduardo Frei, are political centrists who promised to continue many of President Bachelet's popular social policies. Nonetheless, Pinera effectively portrayed himself as the candidate of change, capitalizing on growing dissatisfaction with twenty years of Concertacion rule. End Summary. The Results Are In: Pinera 52%, Frei 48% -------------- -------------- ¶2. (U) Eduardo Frei, the presidential candidate from the ruling center-left Concertacion coalition, conceded Chile's presidential election to his opponent, business tycoon Sebastian Pinera, shortly before 7 pm local time. At 6 pm, preliminary election results, based on reports from 60% of polling stations, showed Pinera with a four point lead. Election results reflecting more than 99% of ballots, released at 7:45 pm, showed Pinera receiving 51.61% of the vote, compared to 48.38% for Frei. Pinera Victory Speech: Promises to Tackle Unemployment, Crime, Education -------------- -------------- -------------- ¶3. (U) In his victory speech at 9:45 pm local time, Pinera told his supporters that "better times are coming" and promised to work for Chileans who "dream and fight for better, happier, and fuller lives for their families." He promised that his government would "do things better" than previous governments, including creating jobs; fighting crime and drug trafficking; protecting the integrity of families; strengthening education; and improving the lives of vulnerable citizens, the middle class, and older adults. Pinera promised a create a strong governing team, choosing the most qualified and committed candidates for government jobs, staying attentive to citizens' concerns, and creating a culture of doing work well. Speaking to a largely Catholic country that has been ruled for the past four years by an agnostic, Pinera's speech was peppered with religious references, including thanking God for the Chilean homeland and a promise to build the new administration on a foundation of rock rather than sand. Pinera was conciliatory and gracious in his victory speech and in a joint appearance with Frei, congratulating his rival on a race well won, emphasizing the desire to work together, and calling for a constructive opposition to discuss legitimate differences and serve as a watchdog. Frei's Concession Speech Praises Chile's Democracy, Call for Cooperation -------------- -------------- -------------- ¶4. (U) In his concession speech just before 7pm, Eduardo Frei praised Chile's strong democracy and described the election process as "clean and transparent." He said that he was proud of the Concertacion's achievements and called on progressives to maintain their unity and to continue their work of building a more equal and inclusive country. Frei also said that he would continue on as a senator (he has four years left in his term) and would become part of the "constructive opposition." President Bachelet made a SANTIAGO 00000050 002 OF 003 televised congratulatory phone call to Pinera, also emphasizing the fairness of the elections. During the cordial conversation, Pinera asked Bachelet for her advice and support during his term and the two agreed to meet on Monday, January 18. Chile's Historic Election: Pinera Ends 20 Years of Center-Left Rule -------------- -------------- -------------- ¶5. (U) Pinera's election is a historic change for Chile. The Concertacion coalition, made up of the Christian Democrat, Socialist, Party for Democracy, and Radical Social Democrat parties, has held the presidency continuously since Chile's return to democracy in 1990. In fact, the Concertacion was born of the effort to end the Pinochet military dictatorship. It was originally formed in the late 1980s to lobby Chileans to vote "no" in the 1988 plebiscite on whether military rule should be extended. The "No" campaign was successful, and as the inheritor of this success, the Concertacion has ruled Chile continuously from 1990 until today. The center-right opposition coalition, Alianza, has been associated with the military government in the minds of many Chileans. However, Pinera himself is a centrist who voted against continued military rule in the 1988 vote. In fact, Pinera has emphasized that he wants to continue President Bachelet's popular policies, so this moment is significant for its symbolic importance more than for any expected dramatic policy changes. The expected peaceful transfer of power from progressives to conservatives will conclusively demonstrate that Chilean politics have normalized after two decades political discourse calcified around who supported and opposed the Pinochet regime. ¶6. (U) Frustration with the Concertacion had been building in Chile for some time. Despite the coalition's obvious success in developing Chile's infrastructure and encouraging economic growth, many Chileans felt that their political system was stagnant and dominated by a small number of people who had rotated through different positions in successive governments. A number of low-level corruption scandals also hurt the ruling coalition. Pinera campaigned on a platform of change with continuity--maintaining many of President Bachelet's very popular social policies but with a new team leading the country. One Pinera advisor described this as "new faces but the same policies." ¶7. (SBU) Pinera, a 60-year-old business tycoon ranked number 701 on Forbes' list of wealthy individuals, is a centrist who has run an excellent campaign, in contrast to the lackluster and uncoordinated effort of his rival, Eduardo Frei. (See Ref A for a profile of Pinera.) Pinera, a former Fulbright scholar, earned a PhD in Economics at Harvard and was instrumental in introducing the first credit cards to Chile in the 1980s. Pinera's net worth is estimated at USD 1 billion. He currently owns 100% of the Chilevision television station, 27% of LAN airlines, and 13% of the very popular Colo Colo soccer team. Pinera, a member of the center-right National Renewal party, served as Senator from 1990-1998 and as president of his party from 2001-4. Pinera made a short-lived attempt at the presidency in 1992, until a recording of him conspiring with a journalist to corner another presidential candidate during a television show was made public (Ref B). Pinera made a more successful bid for the presidency in 2004, coming in third with 25% of the vote. Pinera Led After First Round Elections December 13 -------------- -------------- ¶8. (U) Four candidates ran in the December 13 first round presidential election, which was held simultaneously with congressional elections. Eduardo Frei, who is both a former president (1994-2000) and the son of a former president, was the SANTIAGO 00000050 003 OF 003 government's candidate, but was seen as emblematic of Chile's stagnant politics. Marco Enriquez-Ominami, a 36-year-old parliamentarian with a tragic past and some fairly radical political ideas, ran a surprisingly effective independent campaign, but failed to advance to the runoff election. The fourth candidate, Jorge Arrate, is a former minister who described himself as an "Allendista socialist" and ran on a ticket supported by the Green and Communist parties. ¶9. (U) No candidate received a majority of votes in the first round of the presidential election, which was held on December 13. Pinera won 44% of the vote, compared to Frei's 29%, Enriquez-Ominami's 20%, and 6% for leftist candidate Jorge Arrate (Ref C). While this result gave Pinera a commanding lead, it also meant that the three representatives of the center-left--Frei, Enriquez-Ominami, and Arrate--together captured more than 56% of the vote. Both Pinera and Frei targeted Enriquez-Ominami voters during the month following the first round but, as in much of the rest of the campaign, the Pinera team moved more quickly and expertly in winning over their support. Enriquez-Ominami half-heartedly endorsed Eduardo Frei last week, but explicitly left his supporters free to vote their consciences. Voting Conditions--Free and Fair -------------- ¶10. (U) Press accounts reported that voting was orderly throughout the country. Most voting booths opened between 7 am and 8 am, and stayed open for nine hours or until everyone registered to vote at that booth had done so. Citizen election workers, called "vocales de la mesa," ran the voting booths, while military personnel guarded polling stations and police directed traffic. Political party representatives were allowed to be present at voting stations, and many attended the vote count, conducted at each voting booth when the polls closed. In Chile, voter registration is voluntary, but all registered voters are legally required to vote. Men and women cast ballots in separate polling stations. ¶11. (U) The press covered the voting extensively during the day, drawing attention to the few irregularities which occurred, such as the closure and possible nullification of votes cast at a special polling station designed for voters with disabilities (according to the law, such voters should cast their ballots at their regularly assigned polling station),a small number of citizens who refused to serve as election workers, and pro-Pinera graffiti found inside one polling booth. As polls closed, TV and radio stations provided live coverage of the vote count in some districts. Chileans also provided a constant stream of election news via Twitter, reporting long lines, traffic jams, and other minor issues. ¶12. (SBU) Comment: Sebastian Pinera is a shrewd, hardworking politician and businessman committed to continuing Chile's economic stability and its strong relationship with the United States. As a centrist, Pinera was often pushed to the left to support President Bachelet's very popular social policies during the campaign. However, he also owes his election to votes from the right, and it will be particularly interesting to see how Pinera maintains his promise of continuity while keeping the other party of his Alianza coalition, the far right Independent Democratic Union (UDI) party, happy as well. End Comment. SIMONS