Bachelet leading polls in Chile as election nears

(Vatican Radio) A poll indicates former President of Chile Michelle Bachelet, who's again campaigning for the top job, is closing in on the magical majority figure which would mean an outright victory in the first round on November 17th. Forty seven percent of those questioned in this poll, say they'll vote for Michelle Bachelet to be President of Chile again. This number is just shy of the 50 percent needed to win outright in round one on November 17th. Her nearest rival is former Government Minister Edith Matthei who's trailing with 14 percent. Michelle Bachelet who was Chile's first woman President between 2006 and 2010, left office with a record popularity of more than 80 percent. In her campaigning this time around, she's advocating raising corporate taxes to help pay for education reforms. This is proving popular with young voters, many who've been constantly campaigning for free education, especially at university level. And their elders, who are weary of the disruption the constant strikes cause.

Listen to the report by correspondent James Blears: