Chilean voters demanding fresh ideas for Latin America's most stable economy are threatening to kick out the veteran politicians whose center-left rule has brought two decades of prosperity, in a December presidential election. The ruling coalition of leftist parties joined forces to defeat dictator Augusto Pinochet in a 1988 referendum and went on to win every election since then, but critics say it has outlived its usefulness and is out of touch with voters. “Chile has had a very successful 20-year run after the dictatorship. Now you're seeing two challenges to that dominant elite,” said Patricio Navia, a political scientist at New York University and Santiago's Diego Portales University. The coalition bloc, known as Concertacion, faces its main threat from conservative billionaire Sebastian Pinera who holds a lead in opinion polls ahead of the Dec. 13 vote. But a revolt within its own ranks may put the final nail in its coffin. Marco Enriquez-Ominami, a 36-year old former film producer and leftist congressman, quit the Concertacion earlier this year to run as an independent and is siphoning votes from the government's candidate Eduardo Frei, a former president. Most polls suggest that no candidate will win more than half the votes in December, the first election since Pinochet's death in 2006. They predict Pinera will win a run-off on Jan. 10, probably against the 67-year-old Frei but perhaps against Enriquez-Ominami if he sneaks into the second round by getting more votes than Frei in the first round. Only one poll, released this week by Diego Portales University, suggested that in any run-off Pinera would tie with Frei and be defeated by Enriquez-Ominami. The Concertacion has managed a successful economy, cut poverty rates in half and allowed for the middle class to mushroom, making Chile one of the most developed and stable countries in Latin America. But experts say that same middle class feels shut out of the government's new social welfare programs that focus exclusively on low-income groups. They are frustrated at the slow pace of reforms that could directly benefit them and are tired of the same old faces in politics. The solution? Kick out the old-guard politicians and put new faces in power. “Since they're going to lose the election, a realignment of political parties is a good thing, that there be an exodus, a reconstruction,” said Marta Lagos of the Mori polling firm. A new generation Both Pinera and Frei have been surprised by the success of Enriquez-Ominami, the son of a guerrilla leader killed under Pinochet and now a hit on the social media site Twitter. His talk of ousting old elites to install a new generation in power resonates with younger voters that are ideologically aligned with the Concertacion but view Frei, who was president between 1994 and 2000, as stodgy and old-fashioned. President Michelle Bachelet, a socialist, is still very popular but she cannot run for re-election under Chilean law and has been unable to transfer her political capital to Frei. Critics say she has weakened the Concertacion by becoming a sort of “Queen Mother”, taking personal credit for new welfare programs instead of building support for the coalition. “I think historically, she is going to be blamed,” Lagos said. “If a president finishes their term with 75 percent (approval rating) and hands over the presidential sash to the opposition, then they must have done something wrong.” As Chile puts to rest its image as a socially conservative stalwart – it only legalized divorce in 2004 – so are its politicians across the political spectrum. Pinera, a rightist with airline and television businesses, has pledged to expand the social welfare programs that Bachelet began. “Things like the social safety net that President Bachelet initiated have much more of an impact on lower-income voters than any other reform,” said Gustavo Martinez, a political analyst at the University of Chile.
