President-elect: 'We will raise Chile'

(News Terupdate) - Chile's president-elect pledged Sunday night to rebuild his earthquake-ravaged nation, announcing in nationally televised remarks that he has met with the sitting president to discuss the effort, which he said will be a centerpiece of his administration.

"We are calling the project 'Up With Chile,'" said President-elect Sebastion Pinera, moments after emerging from a meeting with current President Michelle Bachelet at her home.

Pinera is scheduled to be sworn in March 11.

"We will raise Chile," he said. "It's not going to be a short task, it's not going to be easy. It will require a lot of effort, a lot of resources, and a lot of time."

Pinera said his transition team would continue coordinating with the Bachelet administration on the response effort.

Bachelet, a liberal, endorsed Pinera's opponent in a runoff election in January. Pinera will be the first conservative to lead Chile since the fall of Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship 19 years ago.

But Pinera said on Sunday that the earthquake response required the country to transcend partisan differences.

"These are times when we have to act with a sense of national unity," he said. "It is not the time for conflict between government and opposition."

"We have to act nobly and I want to ratify our willingness to work with the government to face the emergency," he said.

Bachelet has proven a popular president, having steered the country through the global economic downturn and having promoted progressive social reforms. Under Chile's constitutional term limits, she cannot run for a second consecutive term.

Pinera acknowledged having to remake his national agenda since the earthquake struck Saturday.

"Our government will have to assume new responsibilities that we had not foreseen," he said. "Our government program had not taken account of the fact that we will have to deal with reconstruction of all that was destroyed."

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