With Bachelet, Chile would take a step to the moderate left.

By Antonio De la Jara

SANTIAGO, (Reuters) Chile is preparing for a moderate shift to the left in Sunday's presidential election, where the popular and charismatic former president Michelle Bachelet is heading towards victory almost assured.

Fueled by discontent with the social policies of the current conservative government, the socialist candidate, who represents an alliance of communists and Christian democrats, has enough support to win in the first round, according to some polls.

But other polls do not rule out a second round, in which Bachelet would have to return to the race to secure a victory that would make her the first to govern the country for a second time since the end of the dictatorship 23 years ago.

At the end of Sebastián Piñera's government, the candidate managed to win over voters with promises of ambitious reforms to change, she assures, the face of Chile, one of the most stable countries in Latin America, but with a chasm between rich and poor.

"Chile in recent years has confronted us with the need to deepen our democracy, making it more open and permeable. It has also shown us how necessary it is that we make the transformations that allow for greater levels of equality," Bachelet told business leaders at a recent forum.

Bachelet, a mother of three, wants to go down in history as the president who corrected inequalities and revolutionized public education through a multi-million dollar tax reform that, according to her, will not have the same effects if it is not accompanied by a new Constitution.

Her sweeping tax reform aims to raise an additional $8,2 billion by increasing taxes on businesses, "without which it becomes impossible to consider the set of proposed transformations," according to the former president.

Bachelet's main rival will be Evelyn Matthei, the government's candidate, although the former president has at least an 18-point lead, according to polls.

The former minister in the current government asserts that Bachelet's program is not pointing in the right direction and that her rival's proposals could jeopardize growth and employment.

Matthei, daughter of a high-ranking general from Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship, has failed to rise in the polls after emerging in late July as the government's preferred candidate, but she is confident she will make it to the second round.

AVOID AN "EXTENSION"

Bachelet is not confident and, with an almost hoarse voice, toured Chilean territory, inviting as many people as possible to vote on Sunday. The idea, she admits, is to avoid "extra time," like in football, and thus prevent a second round scheduled for December.

Sunday will be the first presidential election in Chile where voting will not be mandatory. Analysts say the election will be an enigma.

Although the number of registered voters is 13,57 million, calculations by the Electoral Service indicate that up to 9 million people will go to the polls.

Furthermore, for the first time there are nine candidates vying for the Presidency, a number that could dilute the vote count, although Bachelet comfortably leads in the polls.

In the latest poll by the Center for Public Studies (CEP), the most respected in the country, Bachelet obtained 47 percent of voting intentions, while Matthei appeared with 14 percent.

The CEP result does not include invalid or blank votes, which could increase Bachelet's chances of winning in the first round with more than 50 percent.

Independent candidate Franco Parisi, a liberal who attracts votes from the ruling Alliance for Chile, would come in third place, although in recent weeks Marco Enriquez-Ominami, from the left, has gained momentum.

Crucial election in Congress

The election will begin on Sunday shortly before 8 a.m. (9 a.m. Brasília time) with the opening of polling stations, which will operate until around 18 p.m. (19 p.m. Brasília time).

In addition to choosing the next president, voters will elect senators, representatives, and regional councilors, which could prolong the voting and counting process.

For Bachelet, the first woman to govern Chile between 2006 and 2010, the results of the parliamentary election will be important because she needs a solid majority in Congress to approve the ambitious reforms she proposes to change the face of the country.

All 120 seats in the Chamber of Deputies will be up for renewal in this election, as will 20 of the 38 Senate seats.

The first official results bulletin will be released when the count reaches 20 percent, or around 19:30 PM (20:30 PM Brasília time). The second bulletin should be released when the vote count reaches 60 percent, or around 21:15 PM on Sunday.

(Additional reporting by Rosalba O'Brien)