Chileans go to the polls on Sunday to vote in a plebiscite on a new Constitution that seeks to replace the dictatorship-era text.
The pressure to rewrite the Constitution that dates back to General Augusto Pinochet’s government from 1973 to 1990 was born out of protests that took to the streets four years ago, triggered in part by the profound inequality that many attributed to this structure.
The irony? The rewording is more conservative than the text that can be replaced.
The referendum is the country’s second attempt to draft a new constitutional charter. The first attempt was written by a body elected by popular vote and dominated by left-wing voices.
The text granted extensive environmental protections and guaranteed a wide range of social rights. But for many Chileans, he was too radical and was rejected in September 2022 by voters.
Chileans then elected an assembly, this time dominated by the right, to draft another version that will be put to a vote on December 17th.
At stake is the adoption of the proposed 216-article Constitution, which puts private property rights and strict rules on immigration and abortion at its center, or maintaining the current version.
“It is a text that consolidates the market-friendly economic model instead of weakening it,” said Chilean political scientist Patricio Navia about the project. “Pensions cannot be nationalized, there are strict rules on ownership,” he said.
Proponents early in the process hoped that a new Constitution would help usher in an era of unity in Chile, following a wave of public dissatisfaction that sparked massive demonstrations in 2019 over rising inequality and the poor state of public services.
But priorities have changed for many Chileans amid a sharp economic slowdown, fatigue with the constitutional process and discontent with rising crime.
Campaigns during the second shake-up were also fairly muted compared to the concerts, social media campaigns and public events that marked last year’s plebiscite.
Support for the new proposal has been low in opinion polls, but has gained ground in recent weeks. The latest figures from the Cadem institute survey showed that 38% would approve the new Constitution, an increase of six percentage points compared to the previous survey, carried out in mid-November, while those against it dropped three percentage points, to 46%.
If it is not approved, President Gabriel Boric said he will not push for a third reformulation, but could try to amend the current text to include popular proposals such as the expansion of reproductive and environmental rights. The 1980 version has been changed several times over the decades.
*By Lucinda Elliott and Natalia A. Ramos Miranda
Source: CNN Brasil
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