4 months ago
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By Alexander Villegas and Natalia A. Ramos Miranda
SANTIAGO/VALPARAISO, Chile (Reuters) -Chileans went to the polls on Sunday to decide whether to replace their constitution – which dates back to the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship – with an even more conservative text.
This is the second time in as many years that Chile has held a vote to replace its current constitution, a promise born after large-scale, passionate and sometimes violent protests against inequality gripped the nation in 2019.
But many Chileans are now voicing mistrust and disenchantment with the process.
Nina Vidal, 65, a secretary in the coastal city of Valparaiso said on Sunday that she was inspired by the first referendum she’d now lost confidence in the referendum.
“I sincerely thought things were going to change” the first time, she said after casting her ballot. “But unfortunately nothing changes.”
The first assembly elected to draft a new text was dominated by leftwing forces, and the draft focused on social, indigenous, environmental and gender rights. But that text was overwhelmingly rejected by voters last September.
The electorate swung right for the second draft and voters elected an assembly dominated by conservative parties.
That text that is now up for Sunday’s vote is considered more conservative and market-friendly than the 1980 constitution it could replace. The proposed version places private property rights and strict rules around immigration and abortion at its center.
Polls suggest that voters are likely to reject this proposal, too, although the gap tightened in the lead-up to the referendum.
Pollster Cadem’s last survey on Dec. 1 before a 15-day poll blackout showed 47% planned to vote against the text (-3 points from Nov. 10) versus 38% who plan to approve it (+6 points).
President Gabriel Boric said on Sunday that his government would continue to work on behalf of the people no matter Sunday’s outcome.
“Regardless of the results, our government will continue to focus clearly on the priorities of the people,” Boric said.
Yet, if the new text is approved, it could further hinder leftist Boric’s agenda of progressive tax and pension reforms, according to an analyst note by Nicholas Watson, a managing director at Teneo Consultancy, a global CEO advisory firm.
On Sunday, voters lamented the country’s political polarization, which they said made it impossible for them to agree on a replacement constitution.
“Our differences are so irreconcilable that we cannot find a middle ground from which to move forward, and that is very sad indeed,” said architect Claudio Fernandez, 41, in capital Santiago.
The polls opened at 8 a.m. (1100 GMT) and will close at 6 p.m. (2100 GMT). Results are expected at about 8 p.m. (2300 GMT).
(Reporting by Natalia Ramos and Fabian Cambero in Santiago and Alexander Villegas in Valparaiso; Editing by Aurora Ellis and Sandra Maler)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibilty for its content.
