The far right will be tasked with drafting a new draft Constitution to replace the one inherited from Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship, according to official election results released on Sunday May 7, seven months after the rejection of a first proposal for change during a ‘Referendum.
More than 15.1 million Chileans went to the polls on Sunday to elect, among 350 candidates, the 50 members who will form the Constitutional Council which will aim to propose a new Constitution for the country.
After counting the ballots, the Republican Party, classified on the far right, opposed from the start to a reform of the Constitution, won 35% of the votes, against 29% counted for the left-wing coalition supporting the government of Gabriel Boric, according to official data. The traditional right won 21% of the vote. This is the second process of rewriting the country’s Basic Law.
New referendum in December
At the beginning of September 2022, the Chileans had rejected by 61.9% a first proposal for a new Constitution. This was to establish new social rights, particularly in education, health or housing, recognize the rights of indigenous peoples or the right to abortion. After the rejection by the voters, the main political parties of the country had still decided to start negotiations to relaunch the constitutional process.
The Council will receive a preliminary draft drawn up by a committee of experts to which its members will have to make adjustments and amendments. The text includes twelve essential principles which, however, cannot be modified. Among them, the fact that Chile is a market economy. The project will then be submitted to a referendum on December 17.
The current Constitution, inherited from the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990), is considered, despite several successive revisions, as a brake on any fundamental social reform in Chile, the scene in 2019 of a great popular uprising.