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'No more abuse': Chile to scrap Pinochet-era constitution after landslide vote
By EVA VERGARA
Santiago: Chileans have overwhelmingly voted to rewrite the South American country's dictatorship-era constitution, which its critics see as favouring deep levels of socioeconomic inequality that fuelled a wave of violent protests in 2019 and 2020.
With 90.78 per cent of polling stations counted, 78.24 per cent voted in favour of a new constitution, while 21.76 voted against, according to figures released by the Electoral Service on Sunday night, (Monday AEDT).
Two men, one with a head sticker reading "No more abuse", embrace each other in Santiago on the day Chileans voted to create a new constitution.Credit: AP
"This is a triumph for all Chileans who love democracy, unity and peace," said a President Sebastian Pinera as the votes were being counted.
About 79 per cent of voters supported having the charter be drafted by a convention of 155 elected citizens rather than a convention with half its members elected citizens and half members of Congress.
Among the 60,000 Chileans living abroad who voted in 65 nations, the vote was 86 per cent for a new constitution and 13 per cent against, officials said.
Anti-government protesters gather on Plaza Italia, Santiago, on the day Chileans voted in a referendum to decide whether the country should replace its dictatorship-era constitution.Credit: AP
Electoral and government officials and analysts pointed to a particularly high turnout and significant representation of young people among voters, despite the country continuing to be blighted by the coronavirus pandemic and recent violence linked to the demonstrations.
The country's conservative government agreed with the center-left opposition to allow the plebiscite after vast street protests erupted a year ago with a hike in transport fares but culminated in frustration over inequality in pensions, education and healthcare in what has long been one of South America's most developed nations.
Demonstrators burn a doll depicting General Augusto Pinochet on a horse, on the day of the referendum.Credit: AP
Pinera said acknowledged the victory for those seeking a new charter but cautioned it is only the start of a long process.
"It is the beginning of a path, which together we will have to go through to agree on a new constitution for Chile,” said the President, who had opposed having a new constitution though he had conceded earlier in the day that it likely would be supported by voters.
A special convention would now begin drafting a new constitution to be submitted to voters in mid-2022.
The current constitution was drafted by the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet, and was sent to voters at a time when political parties had been banned and the country was subject to heavy censorship.
People hold a flag that reads "Approval" during a celebration as they wait for the official results of the referendum for a new constitution in Santiago on Sunday.Credit: Getty Images
It was approved by 66 per cent of voters in a 1980 plebiscite, but critics say many voters were cowed into acceptance by a regime that had arrested, tortured and killed thousands of suspected leftist opponents following the overthrow of an elected socialist government.
“I think that many people went to vote out of fear,” said political scientist Claudio Fuentes, who wrote a book about that plebiscite titled, The Fraud.
“The current constitution has a flaw of origin, which is that it was created during the military dictatorship in an undemocratic process,” said Monica Salinero, a 40-year-old sociologist who supports drafting a new charter.
As Pinera spoke, thousands of people celebrated in a central square of the capital used for festivities and protests. Similar gatherings were held on the outskirts of Santiago.
“What happened in the social outburst is now reflected in the outcome of the plebiscite," said one reveller, Paulina Leon. "I was part of the marches a year ago and I have to take care of my decision and help build a dignified constitution."
The free-market principles embodied in that document led to a booming economy that continued after the return to democracy in 1990, but not all Chileans shared.
A minority was able to take advantage of good, privatised education, health and social security services, while others were forced to rely on sometimes meagre public alternatives. Public pensions for the poorest are just over $US200 ($280) a month, roughly half the minimum wage.
Luisa Fuentes Rivera, a 59-year-old food vendor, hoped that “with a new constitution we will have better work, health, pensions and a better quality of life for older people, and a better education.”
But historian Felipe Navarrete warned, “It's important to say that the constitution won't resolve the concrete problems. It will determine which state we want to solve the problems.”
Claudia Heiss, head of the political science department at the University of Chile, said it would send a signal about people's desires for change, and for a sort of politics that would “allow greater inclusion of sectors that have been marginalised from politics.”
Conservative groups fear the revamp could go too far, and endanger parts of the constitution that have helped the country prosper.
Electoral officers tally votes in Santiago during Sunday's constitutional referendum.Credit: Getty Images
“The people have demonstrated saying they want better pensions, better health, better education, and the response of the political class” is a process that won’t solve the problems and will open a period of uncertainty,” said Felipe Lyon, 28-year-old lawyer and spokesman for the group “No, Thanks” that opposes the change.
The vote was initially scheduled for April, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic which has killed some 13,800 Chileans. More than 500,000 people, or one in four Chileans, have been infected by the new coronavirus.
Officials trying to ensure voters felt safe barred infected persons or those close to them from the polls, and long lines formed at voting places. Voters had to wear masks — dipping them only briefly for identification purposes — and brought their own pencils.
The manner of drafting a new constitution was also on the ballot. Voters were choosing between a body of 155 citizens who would be elected just for that purpose in April, or a somewhat larger convention split equally between elected delegates and members of Congress.
AP, Reuters