2017 Chilean Presidential Elections - Sebastian Pinera Wins beating Alejandro Guillier

Conservative Sebastian Pinera won Chile's presidential election by a wider-than-forecast margin on Sunday Dec 17,2017, pledging to jump-start economic growth in the world's top copper exporter and opt for more business-friendly policies than his centre-left predecessor

Chile's electoral authority called the election for former president Pinera, who won 54.58 per cent of votes compared with 45.42 per cent for the centre-left Alejandro Guillier, in a race that had been considered a toss-up.

In the end, the 68-year-old Mr. Pinera, who governed from 2010 to 2014, won more votes than any president since Chile's return to democracy in 1990. It was also the biggest ever loss for the centre-left coalition that has dominated Chile's politics since the end of Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship.

Neither Mr. Pinera nor Mr. Guillier marked a dramatic shift from Chile's long-standing free-market economic model, but Mr. Pinera's victory underscores an increasing tilt to the right in South America following the rise of conservative leaders in Peru, Argentina and Brazil. He is due to be sworn in on March 11