Piñera must modernise Chile's right

For the first time since the end of Augusto Pinochet's military dictatorship Chile has a right-wing president once more. Sebastián Piñera won the runoff election with 52 percent of the vote on Sunday. The era of the centre-left opposition alliance Concertación has now come to an end, the daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung writes: "Combining liberal economic regulations with a social policy that benefits a broad section of the population is the recipe for success Piñera plans to adopt, with a few minor adjustments. The middle class is more focused on economic growth than the social safety nets it now no longer needs so much. Piñera, the richest man in the country, would be well advised to pay special attention to keeping the economy buoyant if he doesn't want to see his hopes dashed. His camp must also prove its political worth. … It's one thing to lure votes away from Concertación with concessions in the election campaign, but leading Chile's right into the modern age is quite another."   

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