MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

A lady president for Chile.

Another woman has been nominated as pre-candidate for the Chilean presidential elections scheduled for next December.

Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Soledad Alvear from the Christian Democratic Party, junior partner of Chile's ruling coalition, clearly defeated senior Senator Adolfo Zaldivar by ten points during last Sunday's national executive vote.

The nomination of Ms. Alvear increased the possibilities that a woman will become Chile's next president when Mr. Ricardo Lagos six year term comes to an end in March 2006. In effect, the other leading pre candidate belonging to the Socialist majority in the ruling coalition is former Defence Minister Ms. Michelle Bachelet who has a comfortable lead in the opinion polls, ahead of Ms. Alvear, and of the main Conservative opposition candidate and former mayor of Santiago Joaquin Lavin.

Mr. Lavin who in 2000 forced a run off with Mr. Lagos was considered until a year ago as the most probable next Chilean president.

However the upsurge of the Chilean economy, the ruling coalition's stability and predictability plus the Conservative opposition's growing disenchantment with one of its icons, General Pinochet, helped to draw attention on the two lady ministers whose experience and "non political" involvement helped lift their reputations.

"Our main task is to integrate the poor and indigents; the jobless and those who have become prisoners of drugs", said Ms. Alvear in her pre-candidate acceptance speech.

The Chilean ruling coalition, Concertation for Democracy has been in office since the return of democracy in 1990 with two Christian Democrat presidents, Patricio Aylwin and Eduardo Frei and Socialist Ricardo Lagos.

Now they must agree on an open primary, no later than April, to nominate the ruling coalition official presidential candidate.

"It's quiet clear that Chile will have a lady president. Ms. Bachelet has the most popular support because she guarantees victory over Lavin and openly expresses the feelings of peace, solidarity, participation and a better future for each Chilean family", indicated Socialist Party president Gonzalo Martner.

The latest opinion polls preference indicate Ms. Bachelet leads with 51%, followed by Mr. Lavin with 26% and Ms. Alvear 19%.