Weekly Report - 30 April 2009 (WR-09-17)

Jorge Arrate will run for president in December for the left-wing coalition, Juntos Podemos. Arrate, 68, won party primary elections on 26 April. He quit the ruling Concertación in January, taking members of the Socialistas Allendistas faction of President Michelle Bachelet's party, Partido Socialista (PS), with him. Arrate, who accused the PS of selling out on its Socialist ideals to prop up an increasingly centrist Concertación, said he would form the Socialist government promised but not delivered by Bachelet. His candidacy could deprive the Concertación of key votes in what is shaping up as a tight contest with the opposition coalition, Alianza por Chile.