Billionaire Sebastian Piñera will return to power as Chile’s president next year, according to virtually complete results from a runoff election held Sunday.
Electoral authorities said the 68-year-old conservative, who previously led the South American nation from 2010-2014, had 55 percent of the vote, with 98 percent of ballots counted.
His leftist rival Alejandro Guillier, a 64-year-old TV presenter turned senator who ran as an independent backed by outgoing center-left President Michelle Bachelet, conceded after receiving 45 percent.
He said Piñera walked away with “a solid and impeccable triumph.”
Piñera will lead the country – the world’s top copper producer – for four years starting in March 2018.
He will once again take over from Bachelet, who was barred by the constitution from running for re-election.
Bachelet and Piñera have tag-teamed the presidency since Bachelet first took office in 2006. Since then, they have alternated in power, switching Chile’s politics between center-left and center-right each time. (AFP)
