Chileans return to the polls this Sunday, December 17, to vote on a second proposed Constitution to replace the one left by the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990). This text, supported by the right, has even more conservative positions than the current Magna Carta and it is feared that it could eliminate the restricted abortion law and toughen immigration policy. The plebiscite takes place after the rejection in 2022 of a first project, prepared by leftist movements with the support of President Gabriel Boric, and in the midst of an environment of disinterest and fatigue among the population.
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“There is wear and tear. Chile has been in elections for more than five years, one after another. So people are already tired, (…) overwhelmed by the topic. They say 'what assures us that this will change?'” says Fernanda Ulloa, a 24-year-old political science student and youth president of the Evópoli political party (center-right).
This Sunday, December 17, more than 15.4 million Chileans return to the polls to decide whether to approve or reject a second proposal for a Constitution that replaces the one left by the military dictatorship (1973-1990). The vote, according to analysts and the population itself, is marked by disinterest and fatigue since it is the fifth constitutional vote since 2020 and, for many young people, it does not respond to their demands for social transformation.
“In Chile nothing is going to change because the powerful, those who rule, are not interested in the lower and middle classes of this country advancing,” added university student Javiera Palacios.
“The student movements do not have the strength they had, and they are not mobilized by this plebiscite because it is between the Constitution of '80 and a Constitution more to the right than that of '80,” Claudia Heiss, a political scientist at the University of Chile, told AFP. .
Little interest
According to electoral authorities, 3,237 voting centers will open their doors between 08:00 and 18:00 local time (12:00 to 22:00 GMT) on Sunday and the result is expected to be available a couple of hours after closing. of urns.
Abroad, The first vote began at 8 local time on Sunday in the Auckland and Wellington constituencies, in New Zealandand then it will be extended to other countries when it is the same time.
Voting in Chile is mandatory and voters run the risk of being fined if they do not go to the polls.
However, the vote takes place in the middle of Christmas and with a large part of the population entering their end-of-year holidays, so polls have predicted a lower participation than the 85.7% reported in the September 2022 plebiscite. when the Chileans resoundingly rejected the first Magna Carta proposal.
“I will go to vote because my pocketbook would not bear a fine, but this Constitution is not going to solve the problems that Chile has,” says Pascual Castellano, a retiree from the capital.
A more conservative text
This is the second attempt to replace the Constitution inherited from Augusto Pinochet, which keeps Chileans divided despite several reforms eliminating its most authoritarian aspects.
A first proposal, supported by the left-wing government of Boric and its allies, after the violent protests of 2019 that demanded deep social reforms, collapsed at the polls in September 2022, after which there was a new election of constituents in which The right and the extreme right prevailed.
If the new text is approved, Claudia Heiss explained to the EFE agency, “it would be the second longest Constitution in Latin America.”
Right-wing groups assure that this long new proposal “takes up” current citizen concernss, such as security and migration, and guarantee that its approval will put an end to the four years of uncertainty that caused the social outbreak of 2019.
This Sunday, after years of uncertainty, insecurity, violence, economic stagnation and hopelessness for millions of Chileans, we have the opportunity to finally begin the reconstruction of our homeland. This Sunday, we vote #EverythingChileVoteAFavour 🇨🇱 pic.twitter.com/XdZp4Hbgrr
— Republican Party 👍🏼🇨🇱 (@PRChile) December 14, 2023
The text that will be voted on in the plebiscite, with 17 chapters and 216 articles, was designed by the Constitutional Council, a body where the extreme right and the traditional right had a majority, with 22 and 11 seats, respectively, so the proposal is much more conservative than the current Magna Carta.
In that sense, it includes points that have generated controversy such as the consecration of the “right to life of the unborn” – a norm that the ruling left fears will clash with the application of the law that allows abortion on three grounds -, the immediate expulsion of irregular migrants or the tax exemption of the first home, for the benefit of people with higher incomes.
It also contemplates that the State pays for each enrolled student, instead of allocating a general budget to schools, preserving some universities free of charge for the poorest.
Without financing, the desire for “free, quality public education” evaporates, says Catalina Lufín, 22 years old and president of the Student Federation of the University of Chile.
In addition, the private Pension Fund Administrators (AFP), created during the dictatorship and highly criticized for the allowances they provide, are strengthened.
If this proposal is finally rejected, the current Constitution will remain in force and the debate will be closed, at least during this term, because the Government has already said that it will not promote a third attempt.
With EFE and AFP
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