For the Movement's guiding star, the comedian-turned politician Beppe Grillo, the manoeuvring to re-appoint the president was another example of the political system's resistance to renewal and regeneration.
Carlos Larrain, head of the conservative National Renewal party, said a Bachelet candidacy "will be healthy for the system" by giving voters a choice between the social welfare policies of her previous term and those of Pinera's right-of-center government.