Conservative billionaire Sebastian Pinera led Chile's presidential vote and was today seen as the favorite to win a run-off and lead a regime change in Latin America's model economy after 20 years of leftist rule.
Mr Pinera, an airline magnate who ranks number 701 on Forbes' global rich list, won 44 per cent in Sunday's voting, shy of the more than 50 per cent needed for an outright victory, according to near-complete official results.
It was the first time in decades a rightist has taken the most votes in a presidential race in Chile, a copper-mining powerhouse and a major exporter of fruit, wine and salmon.
On January 17th, Mr Pinera faces a second round against ex-president Eduardo Frei, who has acknowledged his reputation as a bore and won only 29.6 per cent of the vote even though his coalition-mate, outgoing president Michelle Bachelet, is highly popular.
If Mr Pinera wins in January, he is not expected to dramatically overhaul the austere and moderate policies that the center-left has applied for two decades making Chile a regional beacon of stability and high living standards.
Both Mr Frei and Mr Pinera are now going after the supporters of maverick independent Marco Enriquez-Ominami, who split the left after defecting from the ruling coalition and missed the run-off by finishing third with 20 per cent of the vote.
"I want to tell all those who didn't support us, that we will receive all those who want real change with open arms," Pinera said late on Sunday. "We share with Marco and his followers a firm desire for change."
Mr Pinera's first-place finish may have been less about his platform - including pledges of 6 percent economic growth and corporate tax breaks - and more about the fractured condition of the long-ruling leftist coalition, the Concertacion.
Many voters believe the left has not done enough to distribute billions of dollars in copper earnings through social programs and to improve education and healthcare.
Frei called on Enriquez-Ominami's supporters to back him but the 36-year-old former film producer, whose guerrilla leader father was slain under Pinochet, said he would not endorse any candidate in the run-off, which could weigh on Mr Frei's chances.
In the second round, some of his supporters may continue to reject the Concertacion by voting for Mr Pinera, analysts say.
Mr Pinera (60), is the first candidate to break a voter stigma against rightists after the 1973-1990 dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet, when about 3,000 leftists and dissidents were killed and thousands more were tortured.
Sunday's presidential vote was the first since Pinochet died in 2006, and the youngest voters were born after the dictatorship ended.
A Pinera victory in January would put Chile somewhat out of step with the rest of the region, where leftist leaders dominate in most countries except Colombia, Mexico and Peru.
Mr Pinera, who piloted his own helicopter to remote settlements during the campaign, plans to use job subsidies to lure investment if elected.
Reuters