- The president, Gabriel Boric, in favor of the change, announces a new process.
- Hundreds of people take to the streets in the wealthiest neighborhoods of the capital to celebrate the result.
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| Hundreds of people took to the streets in the wealthiest neighborhoods of the capital to celebrate the result, with Chilean flags |
Chile rejects by majority the proposal to renew the Pinochet Constitution
An overwhelming majority rejected this Sunday the proposal for a new Constitution in Chile with almost 62% of the votes, a result that currently maintains the current text, drafted in 1980 by the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990) and partially reformed in democracy.
"The people of Chile have spoken and they have done so loudly and clearly," Chilean President Gabriel Boric acknowledged on national television. The president, a supporter of constitutional change, announced that as of Monday he will work for hand in hand "with civil society and Congress" to seek a "constituent itinerary" and speed up a new process.
The categorical results, he added, "demand our institutions to work until we arrive at a proposal that interprets us all, that gives confidence."
The option of approving the new text, which declares Chile a social State of law and has been defined as the most feminist and one of the most avant-gardes in the world in terms of gender equality and nature protection, garnered only 38% of support, with more than 95% of the votes counted.
The "rejection" of the new text prevailed in the 16 regions of the country, including the Metropolitan region -which houses the capital- and the coastal Valparaíso, where it won against all odds with 55.4 and 57.6%, respectively.
In south-central regions such as Ñuble, Araucanía, or Maule, the "rejection" was imposed by more than 70%.
"Today there are no winners or losers. There are Chileans who have to meet again," said the leader of the "rejection" campaign, Claudio Salinas. "We want to call for calm, to be proud of the work done. The 1980 Constitution does not unite us or represent us," said communist deputy Karol Cariola, spokesperson for the "approval" campaign.
2020 plebiscite
The forcefulness of the results is reminiscent of the plebiscite of October 2020, called to channel the wave of protests of 2019 and where 78.2% of Chileans decided to start a constituent process and draft a new Constitution.
Two years later, Chileans are not satisfied with the text that was drafted for a year by a convention of democratically elected citizens just for that purpose, with gender parity and seats reserved for indigenous people. "Despite the fact that previous polls gave the 'rejection' as the winner, the difference achieved is greater than expected. There is a saying that is always imposed in Chile: the known devil is better than one to be known," Jeanne Simón told Efe. from the University of Concepcion.
The multinational nature of the State, the right to voluntary interruption of pregnancy, presidential reelection, the justice system, and the elimination of the Senate are some of the issues included in the new text that generate more animosity among citizens. The two official coalitions I Approve Dignity and Democratic Socialism promised to reform the text and moderate the most controversial aspects if approved, but it has not been enough to convince voters.
The Chilean president, Gabriel Boric, hinted this Sunday that he will undertake a remodeling of his cabinet in the coming days after the resounding victory of the "Rejection" in the constituent plebiscite.
"Facing these important and urgent challenges will require prompt adjustments in our government teams to face this new period with renewed vigor," he said on national television shortly after the result was known.
"The triumph of 'rejection' is the great defeat of an ideology that sought to impose plurinational and many other concepts on Chileans that are so alien to our idiosyncrasies," Gonzalo Müller, of the Universidad del Desarrollo, told EFE.
Celebration in the streets
Hundreds of people took to the streets in the wealthiest neighborhoods of the capital to celebrate the result, with Chilean flags and singing the national anthem. "It is a text that does not unite the country, that confronts us, it seems more like a government program," said Christian Democrat senator Ximena Rincón, one of the faces of the center that distanced herself from her party and campaigned against the constitutional proposal.
For Robert Funk, from the University of Chile, "neither the process nor the text was sufficient, in times of economic insecurity, inflation, and unemployment."
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