© Reuters. A Chilean Navy officer stands guard subsequent to voting cubicles earlier than the constitutional referendum which will probably be held on December 17, in Valparaiso, Chile, December 15, 2023. REUTERS/Rodrigo Garrido
By Alexander Villegas and Natalia A. Ramos Miranda
SANTIAGO/VALPARAISO, Chile (Reuters) -Chileans on Sunday rejected a brand new conservative structure to interchange its present textual content that dates again to the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship.
With 90.16% of poll containers tallied, a complete of 55.68% Chileans rejected the brand new textual content whereas 44.32% voted in favor of it.
That is the second draft structure in as a few years that voters have rejected to interchange its present textual content, a course of born after large-scale, passionate and generally violent protests towards inequality gripped the nation in 2019.
“Finally after four years of intense debate and constitutional conversation, we’ve ended up at the same point,” stated political analyst Kenneth Bunker, including that the tip of the vote ought to convey extra political stability and confidence for buyers.
Many Chileans have been voicing distrust and disenchantment with the method after years of polarization and political infighting.
Nina Vidal, 65, a secretary within the coastal metropolis of Valparaiso stated on Sunday that she was impressed by the primary referendum however misplaced confidence within the second referendum.
“I sincerely thought things were going to change” the primary time, she stated after casting her poll. “But unfortunately nothing changes.”
The primary meeting elected to draft a brand new textual content was dominated by leftwing forces, and the draft targeted on social, indigenous, environmental and gender rights. However that textual content was overwhelmingly rejected by voters final September.
The voters swung proper for the second draft and voters elected an meeting dominated by conservative events.
That textual content was thought-about extra conservative and market-friendly than the 1980 structure it might exchange. It positioned personal property rights and strict guidelines round immigration and abortion at its middle.
Polls had urged the brand new textual content was prone to fail however the race had tightened in current weeks. The rejection of the conservative textual content will be seen as a win for leftist President Gabriel Boric.
Boric stated on Sunday that his authorities would proceed to work on behalf of the individuals regardless of the end result.
“Regardless of the results, our government will continue to focus clearly on the priorities of the people,” Boric stated.
Boric stated he would not push for a 3rd rewrite, however Bunker says the query is what the federal government will do subsequent.
“It’s easier to change the constitution today and the question is how hard the government will push,” Bunker stated.
“I don’t think the conversation is going to stop,” he added, noting that he expects the problem to develop into key within the subsequent presidential elections.
Some voters lamented the nation’s political polarization, which they stated made it not possible for them to agree on a alternative structure.
“Our differences are so irreconcilable that we cannot find a middle ground from which to move forward, and that is very sad indeed,” stated architect Claudio Fernandez, 41, in capital Santiago.