Ricardo Lagos wins election, elected Chilean president

Ricardo Lagos wins election, elected Chilean president
DEUTSCHE PRESS AGENTUER

SANTIAGO DE CHILE, JANUARY 17: Ricardo Lagos has been elected Chile's President with 51.3 per cent of the counted vote, making him the country's first socialist leader since Salvador Allende, who fell victim to Augusto Pinochet's 1973 coup.

Lagos' populist, Right-wing rival Joaquin Lavin conceded defeat on Sunday and congratulated the winner after gaining 48.7 per cent of the vote, with about 90 per cent of the ballot counted.

Jubilant supporters of 61-year-old Lagos celebrated his victory by driving through the streets of the capital and sounding their car horns.

In the first round of voting on December 12, both candidates gained just over 47 per cent each.

In the second round, Lagos apparently won a crucial 3 per cent of the vote that previously went to Communist candidate Gladis Marin.

Polls before the ballot had predicted a close race for the post to succeed incumbent Eduardo Frei for a six-year term.

Vote-counting was much faster than expected, and there were no immediate reports ofirregularities during voting.

Lagos campaigned on a social justice platform for the 10-year-old ruling coalition of Christian Democrats and Socialists. The law and economics experts enjoys wide respect among the population.

Lavin, 44, managed to keep his close ties to Pinochet out of the public eye while waging a slick campaign promising pragmatic politics and a "new beginning".

Support for the affable Lavin was strongest among the poor and disenfranchised, many of whom benefitted from donations of building materials and other goods to slum communities that were part of Lavin's well-financed campaign.