The European Parliament sent a letter to speakers of Senate and the Lower House of Congress of Chile on Wednesday,urging them to change the current electoral legislation to facilitate independent candidates and representatives of minorities. The move came a week after the Chilean Electoral Service rejected the candidacy of Aucan Huilcaman, a leader of the Mapuche indigenous people, who wants to stand in the Dec. 4 presidential election. Huilcaman presented 39,000 signatures to the Chilean Electoral Service just before the registration deadline, but the Service turned down his attempt last Thursday, saying there were only 1,000 legalized signatures on his list, and that was not enough for the minimum of 35,171 signatures needed. The Mapuche leader claimed that was discrimination and had asked for the support of different ethnic groups to reverse the ruling. The letter of the European Parliament was also addressed to therest of the presidential candidates: Michelle Bachelet from the ruling Coalition for Democracy, right-wingers Joaquin Lavin and Sebastian Pilera, and leftist candidate Tomas Hirsh. Chileans will go to the polls on Dec. 4 to pick the successor to President Ricardo Lagos. Also at stake are half the seats in the 38-member Senate and all 120 seats of the Lower House of Congress. www.chinaview.cn, 2005-09-22 13:17:41