CHILE: Profile of Chile's independent presidential candidate Marco Enriquez-Ominami

Record ID: 364256

  • Title: CHILE: Profile of Chile's independent presidential candidate Marco Enriquez-Ominami
  • Date: 10th December 2009
  • Summary: SANTIAGO, CHILE (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE IN WHICH ALL PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES TOOK PART
  • Embargoed: 25th December 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Chile
  • Country: Chile
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA3QR2F0BAEFZFPRM6QI8Z1KK6Q
  • Story Text: Independent candidate Marco Enriquez-Ominami is unlikely to win this month's presidential election in Chile, but he has split the leftist vote and could end up being a big factor in propelling a conservative into power.
    Enriquez-Ominami, a former film producer and the son of a leftist guerrilla leader slain during General Augusto Pinochet's 1973-1990 dictatorship, says he is standing by his principles and will make no pacts with the ruling center-left coalition.
    The candidate, who calls himself a progressive leftist, has frequently criticized his opponents for being old-fashioned.
    "Out of the four candidates, we have the only leader that represents the 21st century. They represent a logic from the past and they themselves have ruined the (ruling) coalition, not me, them; when they voted with the right for laws that did not benefit the people, when they plotted to protect lobby practices, when they lobbied to establish business, political and patrimonial partnerships. Furthermore, I believe that the coalition in this election lack an ideal, lack a vision of the country and a patrimony," he said, during one of his rallies in Santiago.
    The dark-horse candidate is widely expected to place third in Sunday's the December 13 election.
    A leading public opinion poll on Wednesday (December 9) showed conservative billionaire Sebastian Pinera winning a likely second-round vote in January against former president and ruling coalition candidate Eduardo Frei. Enriquez-Ominami would be out in the first round with 17.7 percent.
    He is also a strong critic of President Michele Bachelet's ruling coalition.
    "If I move to the second round I will not negotiate (with ruling coalition). I will listen to them, but I will not follow old policies by complying with things that are not goof for Chile," he said.
    Analysts say Enriquez-Ominami, who broke away from the ruling center-left bloc and earned the nickname "rebel" for his pugnacious style, has staked out alternative ground in an electoral field long dominated by coalitions of left and right, and is seen as a strong contender for the future.
    Others say that by rejecting a tie-up with the fractured, Bachelet's unpopular ruling coalition, Enriquez-Ominami could help the right win power.
    Enriquez-Ominami owes his support to voter frustration at a lack of political renewal and the perception that the ruling coalition has failed to improve public services and better distribute billions of dollars in earnings from the country's top export, copper.
    He has also criticized front-runner Pinera for overlooking the country's social issues such as inequality.
    "Pinera (candidate Sebastian Pinera) is a man who speaks of poverty, but he doesn't speak of inequality. Want to know why? Because he doesn't care about inequality. Poverty concerns all of us, but inequality is not his theme. I am concerned about both poverty and inequality, therefore, obviously I don't like Sebastian Pinera," he said.
    Enriquez-Ominami vows a tax system overhaul to wipe out inequalities, hike royalties on the mining sector and on the hydroelectric power sector, as well as ending some corporate tax breaks.
    "I am a man in favor of the (stock) market. I see the market as having capacity to generate wealth, but I think the state should interfere in some areas of the economy and I will say that until the end. I believe that in terms of taxes, in Chile a person who makes 200,000 pesos ($400 dollars) pays more taxes proportionally than a person who makes 100 million pesos ($200,000 dollars), " he said.
    The candidate also pledges to legalize abortion in cases of rape and favors gay unions, prompting his rivals to address the progressive issues in traditionally conservative Chile.
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