Frei seeks to lead Chile once again

SANTIAGO, Chile, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- Former Chilean President Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle is making another bid to lead the Latin American country.

He is the standard bearer for Chile's Party for Democracy, or PPD, the Latin American Herald Tribune reported Sunday.

The newspaper reported that Frei's nomination was made Saturday night, at the end of the PPD's national convention. The party called on him to defeat Sebastian Pinera, the leader of the rightist opposition. President Michelle Bachelet is barred from seeking re-election.

Frei was Chile's president from 1994 to 2000.

In his address, Frei said the country needs a "new constitution for the bicentennial, since the current one must be changed, because it lacks democratic legitimacy." The current constitution was promulgated by the late dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet.

"I want to invite you to join this initiative. We democrats cannot abandon (the task) of making this new constitution," Frei said.