Tuesday, October 25, 2016 Chile voters punish Bachelet’s ruling coalitionPresident’s New Majority loses 26 mayoral seats leaving only 141 to Chile Vamos’ 144SANTIAGO — Chileans gave the ruling, centre-left coalition a bloody nose in municipal elections on Sunday after more than two years of sluggish growth and bitter disputes over education, pension and labour reforms. The ruling coalition that Bachelet heads has dominated Chilean politics for 26 years, holding the presidency for all but four of those years and controlling a majority of municipalities — until yesterday. “Chile wants, needs a change,” said Sebastian Piñera, former president for the right-wing coalition. “Today we have taken a great step towards the change that Chile needs.”Yet, many voters didn’t turn to the coalition that backs Piñera. Independent candidates won 52 mayoral seats, compared with 41 four years earlier, with their percentage of the vote rising to 17.4 percent from 10.9 percent.

Source: Bueno Aires Herald October 25, 2016 01:41 UTC