SANTIAGO: Billionaire Sebastian Pinera was elected Chile’s president on Sunday in a political shift to the right after 20 years of leftist rule and will try to build on policies that made the economy Latin America’s most stable.

Pinera won almost 52 percent of Sunday’s run-off vote, the first time the right has wrested power from the center-left since Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s 1973-1990 dictatorship ended, signaling Chile is moving on from the former strongman’s bloody legacy.

Pinera’s victory over ex-President Eduardo Frei of the ruling leftist coalition marks a shift to the right in South America, a region dominated by leftist rulers from Venezuela to Brazil. He takes office in March.

Pinera, 60, has vowed to give Chile’s state a business-like overhaul to boost efficiency, promising to create a million jobs and boost economic growth to average 6 percent a year.

Critics say Pinera’s plan depends too heavily on the private sector generating jobs and banks on a steady global recovery maintaining copper demand.

He could also struggle to push reforms through a divided Congress, and has promised to form a national unity government.

Support for the ruling leftist coalition dwindled, with voters saying it should have made better use of billions of dollars in copper boom revenues that were stashed away in a sovereign wealth fund.

There also was growing frustration that an old guard has dominated politics in Chile.

Pinera has said he will maintain prudent fiscal policies and expand social programs to include Chile’s large middle class, which has complained of neglect.

A divided Congress and likely resistance from powerful mining unions will mean Pinera will have to reach out to his opponents to be able to push through legislation, meaning he could be forced to water down some of his policy plans.

Possible further fragmentation of the left could make it harder for Pinera to seal deals.

An extreme sports enthusiast who flies his own helicopter, Pinera succeeded in distancing himself from the legacy of Pinochet’s rule, when more than 3,000 people were killed or “disappeared” and around 28,000 were tortured.

Frei, whose 1994-2000 presidency was shaken by recession, sought to cast the Pinera-led right as Pinochet’s heirs, but ultimately failed to galvanize the left.