SANTIAGO, Dec. 11 (Xinhuanet) -- The presidential election of Chile started Sunday as voters cast their ballots to choose a successor to President Ricardo Lagos.

    Veronica Michelle Bachelet, candidate for the popular ruling center-left Democracy Parties Coalition and leading with a 41-percent support in a recent poll, is most likely to succeed President Lagos and become Chile's first woman president.

    Other candidates include Sebastian Pinera, candidate for the opposition right-wing National Renewal party; Joaquin Lavin Infante, candidate for the Independent Democratic Union; and Thomas Hirsch Goldschmidt, candidate for the Humanist Party and Communist coalition.

    Meanwhile the Chileans voters are also expected to hold a congressional election at the same time. Enditem