The people of Chile have clearly rejected the introduction of a new constitution. After counting 96 percent of the votes, the no camp was ahead with 61.9 percent, 38.1 percent voted yes. The new constitution is intended to replace the current one, which was enforced 41 years ago under the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. In polls over the past few months, the opponents’ camp was clearly ahead, but recently the gap has narrowed, giving hope to the supporters’ camp. Voting was compulsory.
The proponents of the new constitution conceded defeat. Her spokesman Vlado Mirosevic said that the result was recognized. “It is with humility that we hear what the Chilean people have said.”
The result is also likely to have an impact on President Gabriel Boric, one of the main advocates of the new constitution. According to observers, the electorate may have seen the vote as a referendum on the 36-year-old – the youngest president in Chilean history. Boric’s popularity has waned significantly since taking office in March.
After massive student protests in 2019, in October 2020 there was practically agreement on the need for a new constitution. Almost 80 percent of the citizens voted for a reform. In 2021, the delegates for a constituent assembly were elected – it included as many women as men and only a few representatives of the political establishment.
The new charter drafted by the Assembly addresses issues such as gender equality, environmental protection, climate change and the rights of indigenous peoples in its 388 articles on 178 pages. In addition, a right to free education, health care and housing is introduced.
Among the hotly contested articles in the draft constitution are those dealing with Chile’s indigenous people, who make up nearly 13 percent of the country’s 19 million people. The new constitution would describe Chile as a multi-ethnic state, establish autonomous regions and recognize a parallel judicial system in those regions, although parliament has yet to decide how far-reaching its powers would be.
Supporters of the new bill say opposition to it stems at least in part from a spate of misinformation about its content. The Chileans, including the political leadership, agree that the constitution from the dictatorship must be replaced. How this can succeed now that the current proposal was clearly rejected in the referendum is an open question. Pinochet’s constitution no longer provides answers to the needs of Chilean society, said Elisa Loncon, an indigenous leader who was the first president of the Constituent Assembly.