For the second time in just over a year, Chileans rejected a proposal for a new constitution in the elections and decided to maintain the Magna Carta, inherited from the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990), and to continue the constitutional debate that began to be suspended after the elections. the mass protests of 2019.
With more than 99.65% of votes counted, 55.76% of voters rejected a text with a conservative seal drawn up by a body led by the far right and traditional right, compared to 44.24% who chose the text to approve.
The option to reject the text, which tightened the treatment of irregular migration and opened the door to a revision of the abortion law, was imposed in most of the country’s sixteen regions, especially in the capital Valparaíso (center) and the northern regions. and Antofagasta, where the difference was almost 20 points.
Moderate electorate
The result, predicted by all polls, represents a setback for the far-right Republican Party, which had a fundamental weight in drafting the new text and aimed to become the hegemonic force of the right.
“A large majority of Chileans have rejected the constitutional proposal we promoted. We acknowledge that defeat very clearly. We have not been able to convince Chileans that this was a better constitution than the current one,” said Republican leader and former presidential candidate Jose Antonio Kast.
While the traditional right and far right defended that the proposal addressed the problem of insecurity and ended the institutional insecurity that led to the social outbreak four years ago, the left claimed that the text was “dogmatic” and pandered to the neoliberal model. implemented during the military regime.
This second attempt in just fifteen months to get a new Magna Carta began in September 2022, when a resounding majority in another plebiscite rejected a project written by a left-wing majority convention that would represent a profound change in the country’s model suggested.
“This result is a sign that the first (Constitutional) Convention was clearly further to the left than the electorate and the second (the Constitutional Council) further to the right. The electorate is more moderate and has said it wants dialogue and common interests. minima, rather than maximalist proposals,” Claudia Heiss, head of the Political Science Department at the University of Chile, told EFE.
Far from the effervescence of last year, this second process is marked by apathy and electoral fatigue, as it is the fifth constitutional vote since 2020.
“The result can also ultimately be interpreted as a rejection of the entire political class as a whole, which could lead to the rise of populist figures much more radical than what we have seen so far,” says Rodrigo Espinoza of the Diego Portales University.
Bittersweet triumph for Boric
The right tried to turn last Sunday’s vote into a plebiscite on the governance of the government, which, unlike the previous process, did not campaign for any options and tried to remain neutral.
The left-wing parties that make up the ruling coalition campaigned against the proposal and came out to celebrate the results, but it is a bittersweet victory because for 30 years they have violated the constitution, which was proclaimed by the military regime in 1981. have questioned and reformed. which they have not been able to replace with a new Magna Carta.
Both left and right have rejected the promotion of a third constitutional process, as well as any major change to the current constitution, which has been reformed dozens of times under democracy. A possible new reform would require the approval of at least four-sevenths of parliament.
“I would rather have something bad than something terrible,” summarized former Socialist President Michelle Bachelet (2006-2010 and 2014-2018) after casting her vote last Sunday.
The result “gives President Boric some breathing room,” but it should not be interpreted as a boost for his government, but rather as a “vote of boredom,” Rodrigo Pérez de Arce of the Institute of Social Studies (IES) told me. E.F. .
Although the latest opinion polls published more than two weeks ago as a result of the election ban anticipated the rejection of the text, there were doubts about the impact that a corruption case could have, which has gained momentum in recent days with the arrest of two people linked to a corruption case. of the parties of the ruling coalition and that has put the Minister of Housing, Carlos Montes, on the line.
In an institutional speech on national radio and television, the president acknowledged that “politics has remained indebted to the Chilean people” because he failed to draft a constitutional consensus proposal. the trenches”.
“More than a celebration, the outcome of this plebiscite is a powerful wake-up call. If the one who obtains the indirect majority tries to deny the existence of the other, we will never make progress on matters that cannot wait,” the government warned. Chilean head of state.
Source: El heraldo
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
