Chileans on Sunday voted overwhelmingly against a proposal to replace the country’s 1980 dictatorship-era Constitution with a new one that would have been the world’s most progressive charter, the Associated Press reported.
The new Constitution includes more rights for women, indigenous persons and working-class citizens than the existing charter that was adopted during the rule of military dictator Augusto Pinochet. The proposed charter also guaranteed adequate housing rights, promised setting up a national healthcare system and enhanced employment benefits.
Chileans voted for a new Constitution after protests erupted in 2019 over hikes in transportation fares. Dozens were killed and thousands were injured in the South American nation during the state crackdown.
Nearly 80% citizens had voted in favour of creating a new Constitution in a plebiscite held in 2020 but Sunday results showed that Chileans were not satisfied with the end product, according to The Guardian.
On Sunday, 61.9% voted against the proposed Constitution, while 38.1% were in favour of the charter.
The current plebiscite, which was mandatory for all those eligible, was a setback to President Gabriel Boric who helped negotiate the deal to write the Constitution.
After the results, the 36-year-old said it was necessary for leaders to “work with more determination, more dialogue, more respect” to reach a new Constitution that unites citizens.
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Boric called a meeting of party leaders on Monday morning in view of the results.
“I commit to put my all into building a new constitutional itinerary alongside congress and civil society,” he said in a televised address to the country.
The camp in favour of the proposed Constitution accepted defeat with its spokesperson Vlado Mirosevic saying: “We recognise this result and we listen with humility to what the Chilean people have expressed.”
Carlos Salinas, a spokesperson for the Citizens’ House for Rejection (against the new charter), said the majority of of the citizens saw rejection as “a path of hope”.
“We want to tell the government of President Gabriel Boric... that today you must be the president of all Chileans and together we must move forward,” he added.
While analysts had expected that the proposed Constitution would be rejected, they did not predict such a large number of citizens to vote against it.
“The Constitution that was written now leans too far to one side and does not have the vision of all Chileans,” Roberto Briones, a voter, told AP. “We all want a new Constitution, but it needs to have a better structure.”
The 1980 Constitution is a market-friendly charter that favors the private sector over topics such as education, pension and healthcare. The Constitution also does not have any reference to the country’s Indigenous community that make up about 13% of the population.
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