More than 60% of voters oppose the Magna Carta, but Boric, who suffers a strong setback, plans to continue with the constitutional process
Strong setback for President Gabriel Boric. Chile yesterday rejected by an overwhelming 62.2% of the votes the proposed new Constitution and decided to maintain the current text, inherited from the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, according to 72.2% of the vote. The option of accepting the new Magna Carta, which enshrined a new range of social rights, was supported by only 37.8% of voters.
The vital referendum held yesterday in the South American country was characterized by the presence, especially in the early hours, of long queues, both at polling stations open throughout the country and at police stations. More than fifteen million Chileans were summoned to give their opinion in a compulsory way from eight in the morning until six in the afternoon -six hours less than in Spain-. Only those who were more than two hundred kilometers from their habitual residence during that day were excused.
Those who did not exercise their electoral duty were exposed to a fine. For this reason, many citizens sought that the agents issue them certificates justifying that they could not vote due to health problems, because they were not at home or because of serious impediments. There they became part of a list that will finally reach the hands of the courts, which will require the appropriate evidence.
The politicians were the ones who got up the earliest to show their opinion. The president, Gabriel Boric, assured in his electoral college that today he intends to summon a broad national unity with all sectors to continue with the constituent process, regardless of the result that came out of the polls. “It will continue because both those who reject the proposal and those who support it have committed to reforming the text or starting a new debate,” he said.
“Go ahead”
When voting in his hometown, the southern Punta Arenas, he added that he could “guarantee the will and action of social organizations, civil society, political parties to listen to all voices in order to move forward.” “Either to implement the text of the new Constitution, for which we have already summoned several constitutionalists and different personalities from civil society, or to give continuity to the constitutional process in case the other option wins,” she specified.
Disappointment
The agreement submitted to a referendum enshrined a new range of social rights
Back
Former presidents Piñera and Bachelet underline the importance of having an updated text
The president held a series of meetings with pro-government leaders preparing the stage starting today, when, according to reports, Boric will convene an advisory council in charge of preparing a new constitutional convention when the ‘no’ vote is imposed in the plebiscite. Official leaders maintained their hope until the last minute that Chileans would support the text. The significant turnout of young people at the polls made them optimistic, but the overwhelming result leaves no room for doubt.
For months, the polls gave the option of rejection as the winner, and therefore the continuity of the Constitution established in 1980 under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990).
Support from former presidents
When going to the polls, former President Sebastián Piñera, although he never made public the feeling of his vote, pointed out that there was “a commitment to a new and good Constitution.” “I am convinced that Chilean citizens will wisely choose the best path for the country, because let’s say things as they are, we have had too much time of divisions, confrontation, violence, insecurity, and what Chile needs is more peace. , more unity, because only in this way will we be able to build everyone’s house,” he said.
The former president and current director of the UN Office for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, voted from Geneva, where she invited “dialogue” once the result was known. “Let’s be able to sit down and talk. Chile deserves to have peace to progress.
More than half a million foreigners were able to exercise their right to vote
In yesterday’s historic vote, 514,000 foreigners were also called to vote, 125,000 more than those registered in 2019, the date on which the “social outbreak” was triggered that prompted the process that concluded yesterday at the polls.
By countries, Peruvians, Colombians and Bolivians are the ones with the greatest presence, although it is the Haitian and Venezuelan citizens who have made a significant jump with an increase of 412.8% and 384%, respectively, in relation to 2020. The number Colombians were third, with 67%, followed by Portuguese with 41%, Filipinos with 37.7% and Hondurans with 34%.
Migration, in particular the irregular one that enters through the borders of Bolivia and Peru, and whose main protagonists are Venezuelan and Haitian citizens, has been in recent months one of the most controversial and burning issues in a country that does not he was used to large migratory flows.
Abroad, polling stations were also installed in all consulates. The first to close were those installed in southern areas, such as New Zealand, where in the afternoon the victory of the ‘yes’ was already known, a trend similar to that of Europe, where the affirmative vote was also imposed.
As a novelty, citizens who are in penitentiary centers, deprived of liberty for different crimes, also voted for the first time.
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