Will Chile live, this Sunday, September 4, the end of a “political adrenaline spiral”in the words of the site The counter ? More than 15 million voters will have to decide by referendum if they approve or reject the draft Constitution which has divided the country for several months now.
If we are to believe all the latest authorized polls – two weeks before this crucial vote – the no would win out, which moreover risks embarrassing the left-wing president Gabriel Boric, sworn in on March 11, whose the coalition in power militates for the yes.
The website Once upon a time thus reported, on August 20, a survey by the Pulso Ciudadano Institute:
“In a scenario that takes into account 100% of voters, 53.5% would choose no, and 46.5% yes.”
A true new beginning
After the great social revolt of October 2019, with slogans calling for more social justice, almost all the traditional political parties had agreed to launch a process for a new Constitution.
It was a real new start to replace the “Carta Magna” dating back to the years of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship (1973-1990), even though it had been reformed dozens of times since then, notably by centre-left president Ricardo Lagos (2000-2006).
But the Constitutional Convention was “poorly elected”, in May 2021, with a record abstention rate of 61.5%. The traditional parties, in particular on the right, had been the big losers in this election and the Convention represented the victory of the independents and of multiple dispersed coalitions, most situated on the left of the political spectrum.
The draft new Constitution proclaims in its first article:
“Chile is a social and democratic State of law. It is plurinational, intercultural, regional and ecological.”
It abolishes the Senate – which has as many powers as the Chamber of Deputies – to replace it with a “Chamber of Regions”recognizes the justice system of the various Native American peoples and “guarantees” women’s right to abortion – in a country that is still largely Catholic.
“Serious Mistakes”
Taken from Santiago by the site The Country America, left-wing intellectual Ernesto Ottone believes that “the draft new Constitution makes serious mistakes” :
“The Senate is very well accepted in Chile […]. The situation of the original peoples must certainly be improved, but not by an exacerbation of identity. […] The radical left, which was in the majority within the Convention, did not do things well. Chile today is more moderate.”
Although moderate – it had supported the idea of a new Constitution – the daily Third recently wrote in an editorial: “The Convention has failed to seize the opportunity to propose a solid Constitution that unites a majority.”
The site on the left the bewilderment evokes on the other hand “an unprecedented deepening of democracy […]the move towards a different, socially inclusive country”.
In an attempt to strengthen the yes vote, the parties of the coalition which supports President Gabriel Boric promised, on 11 August last, clarifications and improvements to the text of the Convention. And, if the no wins, a new assembly is not to be excluded. Monday, September 5 could therefore be just as important as the evening of September 4.