Chile broadly rejects the proposal for a new Constitution

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BBC News World

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image source, Archyde.com

Chile decided this Sunday to widely reject the proposal for a new Constitution.

With 99.4% of the tables scrutinized and a historic participation of more than 12 million people, the “rejection” obtained almost a 62% of votes by 38% of the “approval”.

The victory of the “rejection” thus keeps open the process of constitutional change that had been presented as a solution to resolve the tensions of the 2019 social outbreak.

After approving drafting a new Constitution (in 2020) and electing the members of the Convention to write it (in 2021), the country finally decided through a mandatory plebiscite this Sunday to reject the proposed Magna Carta.

With the victory of the “rejection”, the 1980 Constitution, drafted during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990) and partially reformed in democracy, it will continue in force despite the fact that the overwhelming majority (almost 80%) voted for its replacement.

The result of the Convention, made up equally by women and men, was a text consisting of 178 pages, 388 articles and 54 transitory regulations that was widely rejected.

As the Convention was working and after knowing the proposed text, the division in the country worsened, which in 2020 voted by an overwhelming majority of almost 80% to change the 1980 Constitution, a solution that was born as a response to the social outbreak of 2019.

The government coalition led by the president Gabriel Boric had proposed changes even if the Constitution were approved, in an attempt to assuage the fears of supporters of “rejection” before certain proposals in the text that they saw as “radical”.

Boric, who defended the “approval”, summoned all the parties for this Monday to give continuity to the “constituent process”. The victory of the “rejection” and the magnitude of the difference represents a defeat for the government six months after the start of the presidency.

“The Chilean people were not satisfied with the proposals and have decided to clearly reject them. This decision requires the institutions to work with more commitment and dialogue until they arrive at a proposal that gives confidence and unites us as a country,” he said this night. Sunday Boric, elected as president in December 2021, when confirming a result that he described as “forceful”.

“Let’s not forget why we got here: the malaise is still latent and we cannot forget it,” added Boric, who promised to lead “a new itinerary” to reach a text “that manages to interpret a broad majority of citizens.”

“I call on all political forces to put Chile first and to agree as soon as possible on a term for a new constitutional process. The National Congress must be the main protagonist,” he added, announcing changes in his government.

For their part, the supporters of the “rejection” celebrated the victory.

“The proposal harmed the homeland,” he said. Jose Antonio Kastthe right-wing politician who lost the second round of the elections in December 2021 against Boric and who is one of the spokesmen for “rejection”.

“The constituent process has failed,” he added.

The “rejection” of the text had gathered transversal support from different political sectors, concerned about issues such as plurinationality, given that the constitutional text recognized the autonomy of indigenous peoples, or the fear of an alleged loss of the right to home ownership , among other things.

It is now expected that there will be some kind of agreement between political sectors to modify the current text or propose the drafting of another new version of the Magna Carta.

In one of the first reactions, the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petrofrom the left and very close to Boric, lamented the triumph of the “rejection” and wrote on twitter “Pinochet revived”.