Profile: Sebastian Pinera

Sebastian Pinera has promised to create more jobs

Sebastian Pinera - who is hoping to become Chile's first centre-right president since the end of military rule in 1990 - has in the past characterised himself as "the locomotive", and it is not difficult to see why.

The 56-year-old businessman is described by friends and family as a workaholic, who went from being best in his class at university to being one of Chile's wealthiest men, estimated to be worth $1.2bn (£670m).

Mr Pinera - who is said to work seven days a week - says he earned his fortune by working hard, without inheriting anything from his parents. Now, he has focused that energy on his campaign, touring the 4,800-km (3,000-mile long) country several times and visiting almost every city.

Left-wing critics say he represents Chile's wealthy minority, and would neglect the interests of the middle classes and the poor. Mr Pinera, a former senator, also faces opposition from right-wing sectors that deplore his anti-Pinochet stance.

1988 vote

Mr Pinera - from the National Renovation party - came in a surprise second place in the first round of voting in December, receiving 25.4% of the vote.

Third-placed candidate Joaquin Lavin, a more hardline right-winger, has backed Mr Pinera for the run-off. But many observers say many of Mr Lavin's supporters will be reluctant to vote for Mr Pinera.

Mr Pinera boasts of having voted against the military ruler in the 1988 referendum which led to democracy.

During the campaign, he was asked who had been the worst president in Chilean history and he answered General Pinochet, a highly unusual answer for a right-wing politician in Chile.

Commentators say that while this position makes him attractive to some people in the centre-left, they also fear that he would have to bring elements of the hard-Right into government if he won.

Financial empire

An economist with a PhD from Harvard, Mr Pinera has sought to play down his billionaire image, talking about football and singing popular songs.

His election pledges include pensions for housewives, incentives for small and medium-sized business, and more police on the beat.

Mr Pinera - who says he follows humanist and Christian principles - has also promised to create more jobs, a task for which he says his business experience will come in useful.

His credentials are certainly extensive.

After working for the UN's Economic Commission for Latin America and teaching at several universities, in the 1980s Mr Pinera founded the company that brought the first credit cards to Chile.

His financial empire has, at different times, also included development and building companies, a TV station and a large stake in Chile's main airline.

After becoming a senator in 1990, Mr Pinera was criticised by members of the governing coalition for voting on bills in which he had a potential conflict of interest.

Last year, when he launched his campaign, he left the company boards of directors on which he was serving.

If elected, the father-of-four says he will sell all the stakes he holds in different companies.