Chile’s Voters Reject Far-Left Constitution
Chileans voted Sunday to reject a proposed far-left constitution that was packed with gender-politics provisions and would have dramatically expanded the state.
Nearly 62 percent of Chile’s voters opposed the new version with 99.74 percent of ballot boxes counted, Reuters reported.
The constitution-revision process was initiated after a wave of violent protests — decrying the high cost of living and higher education, poor health care, and general economic inequality — swept the country in late 2019. Then–president Sebastián Piñera of the country’s center-right government caved to their concerns and promised to draft a new constitution.
But the far-reaching framework, which ultimately was shot down by the public, included many radically progressive provisions. It would have named Chile a “plurinational and paritarian” republic, rather than a democratic republic, advancing the idea that Chile comprises ethnic and identity groups rather than a united people.
Article 25 not only prohibited all forms of discrimination but required the government to award reparations for past discrimination. In conflict with Chile’s Catholic heritage, one provision would have legalized abortion until the moment of birth. Another would have enshrined the right of Chileans to be recognized according to their sexual identity, requiring the government to enact legislation to end gender stereotypes.
The constitution would have also renamed and restructured parts of the government to be more social-justice-oriented. It would replace the senate with a “chamber of regions.”
The Economist had warned that provisions prohibiting “all forms of job insecurity” and enshrining the “right to work” could make it difficult to fire workers. The document also would have swelled government obligations, including in health care, leading to warnings of increased taxes.
Carlos Salinas, a spokesman for the Citizens’ House for Rejection, told Al Jazeera that the country’s opposition to the new constitution presents “a path of hope.”
“We want to tell the government of President Gabriel Boric . . . ‘Today you must be the president of all Chileans, and together we must move forward,’” he said.
Boric insisted that there is still an overwhelming popular mandate left from the 2019 demonstrations to change the constitution. “We have to listen to the voice of the people. Not just today, but the last intense years we’ve lived through. That anger is latent, and we can’t ignore it,” he said, according to Reuters.
Karol Cariola, spokeswoman for the approval campaign, said that despite the referendum’s failure the movement behind it will continue to grow until the country’s social ills are addressed.
“We are committed to creating conditions to channel that popular will and the path that leads us to a new constitution,” Cariola told Reuters.
Mandatory for all Chilean citizens to participate in, the initiative drew massive turnout, with nearly 13 million of 15 million residents who were eligible to vote casting ballots.
