Chile elects first woman President
[[Image:Debate televisivo Canal 13 CNN (Bachelet).jpg|thumb|right|Michelle Bachelet at a TV debate in October 2005]]
{{date|January 15, 2006}}

[[w:Michelle Bachelet|Michelle Bachelet]] became Chile's first elected female President Sunday when her rival, Sebastian Piñera, conceded defeat after trailing by six points.
Bachelet, a member of the center-left group Concertación, previously served as both Health Minister and Defense Minister.

Outgoing President [[w:Ricardo Lagos|Ricardo Lagos]] called it a "historic day" and phoned Bachelet to congratulate her.

At 21:30 local time (00:30 [[w:UTC|UTC]] of Monday), Bachelet has said: 
::''"Who had ever thought, my friends? Who thought 20, 10 or 5 years ago that Chile would elect a woman as a President? That became possible, because the citizens wanted it to. Thank you, Chile, thank you for your millions of votes. (...) My commitment as President of Chile will be to walk along you one more stretch in this big Avenue of Freedom we have been opening"''

Ms. Bachelet supporters are reportedly celebrating her victory.

==Results==
The following results are based in the third official bulletin delivered at 20:50 local time (23:50 UTC), corresponding to the 99,71% of the total votes.
{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;" width=85%
|- align=center style="background:#ccc" 
! Candidate !! Coalition !! Votes !! %
|-
| [[w:Sebastián Piñera|Miguel Juan Sebastián Piñera Echenique]] || [[w:Alianza por Chile|Alianza por Chile]]
|align=right| 3 227 395
|align=right| 46.51%
|-
| '''[[w:Michelle Bachelet|Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria]]''' || '''[[w:Coalition of Parties for Democracy|Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia]]'''
|align=right| 3 712 587
|align=right| 53.49%
|-
|colspan=2|Total valid votes
|align=right| 6 939 982
|align=right| 97.17%
|-
|colspan=2|Null votes
|align=right| 154 314
|align=right| 2.16%
|-
|colspan=2|Blank votes
|align=right| 47 708
|align=right| 0.66%
|-
|colspan=2|Total votes
|align=right| 7 142 004
|align=right| 99.71%
|-
|colspan=2|Total voters enrolled
|colspan=2 align=right| 8 220 897 <br />( ~12.9% abstention)
|}

==Sources==
{{wikipediapar|Chilean presidential election, 2005}}
{{wikipediapar|Michelle Bachelet}}
*{{source|url=http://today.reuters.com/News/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-01-15T214636Z_01_N14130550_RTRUKOC_0_US-CHILE-ELECTION.xml|title=Chile electing first woman president-early results|author=Reuters|pub=Reuters|date=January 15, 2006}}
*{{source|url=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/3588817.html|title=Chile Socialist Leading Presidential Race|author=Eduardo Gallardo|pub=www.chron.com|date=January 15, 2006}}
*{{source|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4613864.stm|title=Chile gets first woman president|author=|pub=BBC News|date=January 16, 2006}}
*{{source|url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/01/15/chile.vote/index.html|title=Bachelet wins Chilean presidency|author=|pub=CNN|date=January 15, 2006}}
*{{source|url=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aS7Hg8JyFQ2A&refer=top_world_news|title=Chile's Bachelet Becomes Nation's First Woman Leader|author=|pub=Bloomberg|date=January 15, 2006}}

{{publish}}{{archive}}
[[Category:Chile]]
[[Category:South America]]
[[Category:Politics and conflicts]]
[[Category:Elections]]
[[Category:Sebastián Piñera‎]]
[[Category:Michelle Bachelet]]

[[de:Sozialistin Michelle Bachelet wird neue chilenische Präsidentin]]
[[es:Michelle Bachelet es la nueva presidenta de Chile]]
[[fr:Michelle Bachelet est élue présidente du Chili]]
[[it:Cile: Michelle Bachelet eletta presidente]]
[[pt:Michelle Bachelet é a nova Presidenta do Chile]]
[[sv:Chile får sin första kvinnliga president]]
Michelle Bachelet at a TV debate in October 2005


Michelle Bachelet became Chile's first elected female President Sunday when her rival, Sebastian Piñera, conceded defeat after trailing by six points.
Bachelet, a member of the center-left group Concertación, previously served as both Health Minister and Defense Minister.

Outgoing President Ricardo Lagos called it a "historic day" and phoned Bachelet to congratulate her.

At 21:30 local time (00:30 UTC of Monday), Bachelet has said: 
::"Who had ever thought, my friends? Who thought 20, 10 or 5 years ago that Chile would elect a woman as a President? That became possible, because the citizens wanted it to. Thank you, Chile, thank you for your millions of votes. (...) My commitment as President of Chile will be to walk along you one more stretch in this big Avenue of Freedom we have been opening"

Ms. Bachelet supporters are reportedly celebrating her victory.

de:Sozialistin Michelle Bachelet wird neue chilenische Präsidentin
es:Michelle Bachelet es la nueva presidenta de Chile
fr:Michelle Bachelet est élue présidente du Chili
it:Cile: Michelle Bachelet eletta presidente
Michelle Bachelet é a nova Presidenta do Chile
Chile South America Politics and conflicts Elections Sebastián Piñera‎ Michelle Bachelet