Pinera leads in Chile presidential election with 46 pct votes counted

SANTIAGO, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chile's former president, Sebastian Pinera, has taken the lead in the second round of the presidential election on Sunday, the Electoral Service (Servel) announced just after 7 p.m. local time.

With 46.78 percent of votes counted, Pinera garnered 54.29 percent of votes, against 45.71 percent for his rival, Alejandro Guillier.

The day took place relatively calmly, despite a slight scuffle between Pinera's supporters and opponents when he went to vote, and some voters trying to throw eggs at Guillier in the morning.

Despite a high level of abstention being feared, long waits were seen at major polling stations in Santiago, including the national stadium, where voters had to wait over 45 minutes to cast their ballot.

Pinera ruled Chile between 2010 and 2014, while Guillier is the great hope of the center-left and seeks to continue the legacy of President Michelle Bachelet.

If Pinera maintains his lead, he will confirm his ability to break the dominance of the left in Chilean politics since the Pinochet dictatorship fell in 1990.

At 8:30 p.m., the Servel is expected to provide an update with 50 percent of the votes counted, then another at 9:30 p.m. with 90 percent counted and a partial result at the end of the day. The full result is expected to be confirmed on Monday morning. Enditem