2017.11.1908:42:00UTC+00CHILE: Country Holds First Round Of Presidential Elections On Sunday

Chile will hold general elections on Sunday. More than 14 million people are qualified to choose a new President for the South American country. Chileans will also elect new legislatures in the Senate and the national and regional assemblies.

According to the polls, out of the eight candidates, the right-winger former President Sebasti?n Pi?era (2010-2014) is the favorite to win the vote on Sunday, but is not expected to get enough support to avoid a second round against the Senator Alejandro Guillier, the ruling party candidate. If the voting ballots confirm the prediction, Pi?era and Guillier will face each other in a second round scheduled for December 17.

The big if is related to the voters' turnout, since participation is not mandatory in Chile since 2012. According to the polls, around 40% of the voters are expected to show up on Sunday.

"Out of a total of 14.3 million people qualified to vote, the government expects that around 6.5 million voters should come forward on Sunday," said Gabriel de la Fuente, Secretary General of the Presidency.

Pi?era is considered the favorite to win on Sunday, pushed by the discontent with the weak economy of the world's largest copper producer and the reforms sponsored by the President Michelle Bachelet. Among his promises, Pi?era says that he will double economic growth, improve pension and education reforms, and undo a rise in taxes on businesses.

For his part, Guillier vindicates the legacy of the socialist President Michelle Bachelet. In his campaign, Guillier reiterated his promise to deepen the educational reform by extending gratuity in higher education. He also promises to advance the process of reforming the current Constitution - inherited from Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship (1973-1990) - and to extinguish the copper law, that favors the Armed Forces.