SANTIAGO, Chile. In a rally seemingly timed to draw the attention of prime time TV news, former President Sebastian Piñera, 67, a right wing politician, officially launched yesterday, past 21:00 hours, his campaign to become President of Chile for a second time.
"I announce my decision to run again for President", said Mr. Piñera to the people attending the rally.
The rally took place in Quinta Normal, a district to the north-west of Santiago not associated with right wing sentiment. The districts located in the eastern part of Santiago are traditionally regarded by Chileans to be right-wing or right-wing leaning.
News reports showed that the rally was attended by like-minded politicians and supporters of Mr. Piñera, totaling over 1,000 people, according to the media.
Although the rally started at about 19:30, the former President came on stage at about 21:20, according to news reports.
In his typical no-nonsense style, Mr. Piñera delivered a speech in which, on the one hand, he harshly criticized the current administration led by President Michelle Bachelet and the governing coalition, known as "New Majority", considering that they are doing a very poor job that is hurting Chile on many levels, and, on the other, he pointed out a long list of things that he considers to be achievements and successes of his own 2010-2014 administration.
His assertion that his office term was dominated by strong economic growth, investments, and the creation of "one million new good jobs", as he said, came one day after the Chilean Central Bank released a report stating that 2016 was the sixth year in a row with declining GDP growth and the third year in a row with negative investment (See our story "Chile's GDP growth of 1.6% lowest since 2009").
A well known billionaire, Mr. Piñera also said that, if elected President again, he would not be involved at all in the management of his many companies, thus addressing recent criticism that, while in office, he made decisions that benefited his own business interests.
Today the Chilean media were abuzz discussing the former's President speech, with focus shifting from the various topics covered by the former President to the views of both supporters and critics.
The former President's announcement that he would run for President again came as no surprise to Chileans, most of whom regarded the announcement as just a matter of time.
Former president Piñera is leading the polls with 24%, 8 percentage points over the second presidential contender.
The presidential election in Chile is scheduled for November 19, 2017.
The presidential election in Chile is scheduled for November 19, 2017.
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