Socialist Michelle Bachelet won Sunday’s presidential run-off election in Chile with 62.2 per cent of the vote, according to the first preliminary official results made public immediately after polling stations closed.
With virtually all the votes counted by Chile’s Election Service, Bachelet’s conservative rival Evelyn Matthei had only 37.8 per cent.
“Today, a new era begins,” Bachelet told thousands of supporters gathered before the Hotel San Francisco, her campaign headquarters.
“This is the time to launch deep transformations,” she said.
Bachelet, 62, who served as President from 2006 to 2010, already won the first voting round on November 17 with 47 per cent of the vote.
Ruling party candidate Matthei, 60, came second in that race, with 25 per cent.
Bachelet said her win belongs to the millions of Chileans who demonstrated since 2011 to demand greater social and civil rights.
“We need to have a new constitution that is born in a democracy,” she said. “Now is the time, we have the necessary majorities.” Bachelet said ahead of the election that she wanted to reform Chile’s education system, which will require tax reform and possibly a broader constitutional reform.
In Chile, even public schools and universities charge fees. In recent years, there have been repeated mass protests for reform to improve access to education, and Bachelet has taken on board student demands to provide free education for those who need it.
Matthei was quick to concede defeat, and she visited her rival in person to congratulate her.
“It’s clear, she won and I congratulate her for that,” Matthei said.
Matthei told Bachelet that she would not allow anyone to question the winner’s legitimacy based on a turnout that was below 50 per cent of the 13.6 million registered voters.
Bachelet’s centre-left coalition is set to have an absolute majority in both houses of Congress after the legislative election last month, so she would presumably be able to implement a fair portion of her reform-based programme.
If final official results confirm her victory, Bachelet is set to be inaugurated President on March 11, with a four-year mandate.
Consecutive Presidential terms are not allowed under Chilean law, so outgoing President Sebastian Pinera could not be a candidate in this election just as Bachelet could not stand in 2009.
Bachelet and Matthei are the daughters of high officials of the Chilean Air Force. The two men were good friends, although their lives took different turns with the coup that toppled President Salvador Allende in 1973.
Bachelet’s father was imprisoned and eventually died as a consequence of the torture he suffered, while Matthei’s father rose through the ranks of the regime to eventually become a member of the ruling Junta.