 After the return of the democracy, Frei was elected senator in 1989 and served as chairman of the Armed Forces Committee where he developed strong links with the military.After Pinochet's arrest, Frei visited the general in London and his independent presidential campaign to succeed his cousin Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle was seen as a maneuver by the general to prevent Ricardo Lagos from winning the election.The Progressive Union of the Centrist Center presented Frei as their candidate for the 1999 presidential elections, where Frei fared disastrously, gaining only 0.35% of the vote, the lowest percentage of any candidate since the end of the military régime.