Chile: Presidential Election Result In Tie Between Left And Right Wing Candidates - Second Ballot In January

Record ID: 4153

  • Title: Chile: Presidential Election Result In Tie Between Left And Right Wing Candidates - Second Ballot In January
  • Date: 12th December 1999
  • Summary: Chile's closest-ever-presidential election ended in a virtual tie between leftist Ricardo Lagos and right-wing rival Joaquin Lavin and is headed for a second-round ballot box battle next month. With almost all votes counted on December 12, Ricardo Lagos held the slimmest of leads over Joaquin Lavin, a former advisor of ex-dictator Augusto Pinochet. But both were shy of the 50 percent support needed to avoid the run-off that is slated for January 16. Lagos, 61, the centre-left ruling Concertacion coalition candidate who earlier this year had looked like a clear favourite to win, immediately jumped back on the campaign bandwagon. "The final fight starts right now," Lagos told a news conference. "We will win in the second round. . . The decision on January 16 is important to your life, your family, your future," he said. With 99 percent of the votes counted, Lagos polled 47. 96 percent to Lavin's 47. 52 percent. Four other candidates took less than five percent in the race to succeed President Eduardo Frei who steps down in March at the end of his six-year term. Lavin, 46, is a former mayor of an upscale district of Santiago whose slick apolitical campaign won him support from average Chileans, promising them more jobs and less crime as the country struggled in a crippling recession. Lavin, a Chicago-educated economist, walked the length and breadth of the country giving simple speeches promoting "change", not even mentioning he was the candidate for the Alliance for Chile, an umbrella group for two right-wing parties. A second round victory for Ricardo Lagos would make him the first socialist to lead the South American nation of 15 million since Salvador Allende, who was ousted in 1973 in a bloody coup masterminded by Pinochet. Lagos, a former public works minister, campaigned on a platform of prioritising social issues such as housing, health and education but maintaining the country's entrepreneurial spirit and free market zeal.
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  • Location: CHILE SANTIAGO
  • Reuters ID: LDL0012C0T707
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
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  • Copyright Holder: Reuters Archive
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