By Andrés Velasco
In October 2022, Chileans elected a far-left constitutional convention that produced a text so bizarrely radical that nearly two-thirds of voters rejected it. Now Chileans have elected a new Constitutional Council and put a far-right party in the driver’s seat.
Over 15 million Chileans are to vote Sunday in order to form the 50-member body to draft a new Constitution with which to replace the one stemming from the Augusto Pinochet military regime after the previous project was massively turned down in a referendum in September last. Voting is mandatory and fines are imposed on those who cannot justify their omission.
Chile's Interior Minister Carolina Tohá admitted the country's previous constitutional reform attempt was a failure and said she was aware that her country could not afford to let that happen again while underlining the importance of citizen participation.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric Font Tuesday told the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York that his country would have a new Constitution “shortly” after the Sept. 7 attempt to get a progressive text approved through a referendum failed to get past the vote of the citizenry.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric Font Monday announced a few adjustments will be made to his administration after voters chose to reject the progressive Constitution penned to replace the one from the Agusto Pinochet era.
Santiago's Stock Exchange reached peak figures Monday after Rejection prevailed in Sunday's referendum, which meant the welfare state failed at least for now to become a reality that would have also included differentiated judiciary systems for native groups.
Nearly 62% of Chilean voters chose to reject the Constitution drafted by an Assembly called on after the 2020 incidents that led to President Gabriel Boric Foont's election.
Chile's planned new Constitution seems to be heading for failure in the upcoming September 4 referendum, according to the latest polls, which show up to 56% of the citizenry would vote against it, between 4 and 12 percentage points above those who would approve it.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric Font Monday said that there was consensus among the ruling coalition to “improve” the new Constitution once the draft is approved through a plebiscite in September.
According to a survey released in Santiago Monday, 51% of Chileans would not support the new Constitution draft which seeks to replace the one from the Military Dictatorship era of General Augusto Pinochet.