Weekly Report - 15 January 2009 (ISSN 1741-7422)

Adolfo Zaldí­var will run for the presidency in December for the Partido Regionalista de los Independientes (PRI). Zaldí­var was expelled from the Democracia Cristiana (DC) - the largest party in the ruling Concertación - one year ago, since when he has been a persistent thorn in the side of the government. He became president of the senate, and a handful of deputies who supported him also left the DC to join the PRI, stripping the Concertación of its majority in both chambers of congress. His presence in the presidential contest will deprive both the Concertación and the opposition coalition Alianza por Chile of votes, but the former will be most affected, especially as ex president Eduardo Frei (DC) looks likely to secure the nomination of the Concertación.
 
The PRI competed as part of Chile Limpio, along with the Partido Ecologista, in last October's municipal elections. It made a pretty impressive debut, winning 8% of council seats and seven mayoral seats. A poll conducted by the national daily La Tercera shortly after the elections suggested Zaldí­var would win 7% for the PRI in the first round of presidential elections in December. This led the standardbearer of the Alianza, Sebastián Piñera, to court the PRI for a second-round alliance to take votes from the Concertación. Zaldí­var knows if the PRI wins the sum of the difference between the Concertación and Alianza candidate in the first round (up to 10%) it would cast him in the role of kingmaker in the run-off, able to dictate terms to both parties in exchange for the PRI's support.