Lagos following PPD announcement: "You all know that I have never turned my back on a challenge"

SANTIAGO.- During his first formal statement after the PPD announced he would be the party’s presidential candidate, former President Ricardo Lagos has not ruled out possibly becoming the future presidential candidate for the Concertación, but has established certain conditions that will need to be met before he can accept the challenge.

In a two page press release sent to communication mediums today, the former President states that he is not looking, nor has he ever looked, to be “a candidate for a second presidential term”.  “that is why I have repeatedly stated that my name is not competing in the process to designate a candidate for the Concertación”, he asserted.

Nevertheless, Lagos clarified that “that does not mean” that he will turn his back on “the challenges ahead”.  “You all know that I have never eluded a political challenge when I have had the ethical and political conviction that it is my duty, especially when I have been the one entrusted with the hopes of our nation for a better future”, he declared.

The former president also dedicated several paragraphs to defending work done by his administration while he was in office.