2023-05-08 11:42:03
“Chile, your blue sky is pure” : at the headquarters of the Republican Party (extreme right) in the urban area of Santiago, the militants conclude their evening of victory by singing the national anthem, Sunday, May 7. The progressive results of the election of the Constitutional Council, a joint body of fifty people responsible for drafting a new fundamental law, were accompanied for two hours by cheers and Chilean flags waved in the air. The victory of the extreme right is indisputable. The party born in 2019, carrying the most conservative project on the Chilean political spectrum, stands out as the first force, far ahead of the other lists, with 35.4% of the vote.
“I’m happy, it’s a punishment for the government [de gauche], who failed to understand the needs of the population: the fight against insecurity and immigration”, asserts José Hidalgo, a 61-year-old teacher, from the headquarters of the Republican Party. It refers to the themes that most concern Chileans and fuel the growth of the far right, favored by the compulsory nature of the vote. “Today I feel proud, I hope that this Constitution will set rules against crime”aspires Isidora Gonzalez, a 22-year-old student, the flag of her country against her chest.
However, immigration and insecurity are themes that are not supposed to feed the discussion on the fundamentals of the future Constitution, supposed to draw the nomenclature of the State and the main principles of a model of society. The new text must replace the current Constitution, written in the midst of a military dictatorship (1973-1990).
“Disappearance of the forces of the center”
“I invite the Republican Party (…) not to make the same mistake that we [les forces de gauche] have committed”, said President Gabriel Boric, Sunday evening after the announcement of the results, explicitly referring to the first attempt at constitutional rewriting. In May 2021, a radically different assembly had been appointed: 155 people, mostly on the left and independent. For a year, they had worked on a text devoting new social rights (education, health, housing), but sinned by excess of progressivism, according to its detractors. The concept of a plurinational state, recognizing indigenous populations as nations, had in particular revolted many voters.
In September 2022, 62% of Chileans rejected this proposal. Part of the left then carried out its self-criticism, admitting that the forces of the right or of the center had not been listened to and included enough during the formulation of the new text. “When the pendulum of history swings incessantly from one extreme to the other over a short period of time, it is always the most vulnerable people who lose (…). Leadership is about stopping this pendulum motion”estimated Gabriel Boric, Sunday evening.
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