Some 15 million Chileans are going to the polls this Sunday to approve or reject in a plebiscite a constitutional proposal that would replace the fundamental law in force since 1980, which was approved during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.
The proposal submitted today for mandatory consultation has divided and generated uncertainty and sharpened the division in the country. The result is seen as definitive for the purposes of the government of President Gabriel Boric.
“Regardless of the result, the role that I as President of the Republic, our government, and in which we are going to commit ourselves together with all of you, is to meet as a country, to advance in justice, equality, in advancing in further development and growth for all,” Boric said in an address to the nation on Sunday.
“I can guarantee that our will and our action, regardless of the result, will be to call for a broad national unity of all sectors, social organizations, civil society, political parties, we want to hear all voices to to be able to continue with this process, either to implement the text of the new Constitution (…) or to also give continuity to the constituent process in case the other option wins,” said the president.
He also thanked all Chileans, including those who are participating in the plebiscite in other countries, including the United States.
On Saturday night, Boric, 36, had told Chileans on the networks: “Dear country (…) it will be a great day. In Chile we resolve our differences with more democracy, never with less. I am deeply proud that we have come this far.”
The Ministry of Public Transport and Telecommunications of Chile kicked off on social networks.
“We are beginning this exciting day, a historic day for our country, in which we are going to attend this constitutional plebiscite,” said the minister of Juan Carlos Múñoz at the Twitter account of the Chilean government.
The subway of the Chilean capital, which concentrates 40% of the electorate, will be free all day to encourage participation.
On Saturday night, Boric, 36, had told Chileans on the networks: “Dear country (…) it will be a great day. In Chile we resolve our differences with more democracy, never with less. I am deeply proud that we have come this far.”
If he wins the rejection, observers believe that it will be a heavy blow for Boric six months into the presidency, since he was one of the promoters of the agreement where the constituent was born. The Chilean medium Third Citing sources from Boric’s cabinet, he said that the president has already met with opposition parliamentarians and congressional leaders “to reach quick compromises, such as a new constituent process.”
If you win approvalBoric would have to convene the full Congress in the next five days and generate majorities among the membership for the implementation process, which experts also see with difficulty due to the number of detractors of the proposal.
Government sources say that even if the initiative wins, the Boric government will not celebrate and instead will seek to show signs of calm and call for major agreements to implement the new constitutional text.
If he loses the proposal, cabinet sources told ThirdBoric will make a call to start a new constitutional process, going through the call for a national agreement.
The background of the plebiscite
The plebiscite culminates a three-year process that began with student street protests in 2019. The protests began over an increase in transportation prices, but soon expanded to more general demands for more equality and more social protections.
After the social outbreak that shook Chile at the end of 2019, Chileans began the process of preparing a new Magna Carta, which was ratified by a large majority a year later in a referendum.
However, the controversies with the drafters and some of the proposals seen as controversial by some sectors -many of which did not reach the final text- weakened support for the Constitutional Convention.
After months of work, the delegates delivered a 178-page document with 388 articles that, among other things, emphasizes social issues and gender equality, enshrines the rights of the country’s indigenous population and places climate change and the environment in priority in a country that is the world’s largest producer of copper. It also introduces the rights to free housing, health and education.
The new Constitution describes Chile as a multinational state, establishes autonomous indigenous territories and recognizes a parallel system of justice in those areas, although legislators would decide how far their authority could go.
According to Chilean law, the disclosure of polls is legal up to 15 days before the vote, but the latest polls published before that deadline showed a greater intention to reject the proposal, with at least eight points of advantage.
[Con reporte adicional de Carolina Valladares, en Washington DC. y José Pernalete en Miami, Florida. Contiene información de Reuters y AP desde Santiago de Chile]
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