The president of Chili, Gabriel Boricassured this Sunday that the plebiscite on the new proposed Constitution “strengthens” democracy and said that, “regardless of which option wins,” his Government will focus on the “priorities of the people.”
“Regardless of any outcome, it strengthens our democracy. Chile has shown a strength that we do not have to take for grantedhas shown that we channel the problems we have in society institutionally and resolve them peacefully and trusting the people.“said the president after voting in his native Punta Arenas, in the extreme south.
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“It’s not like that in all places.”, added the president, who will follow the results of the plebiscite from Santiago.
More than 15.4 million Chileans decide whether to approve or reject a new proposed Constitution to replace the current one, in force since 1981, in the midst of the dictatorship of Augusto Pincochet (1973-1990), but reformed dozens of times into democracy, especially in 2005, during the Presidency of Ricardo Lagos (2000-2006).
Of 17 chapters and 216 articles, the text did not achieve political consensus in the Constitutional Councilthe body of 50 councilors elected at the polls that drafted the proposal for six months and where the far right and the traditional right They asserted their majority, with 22 and 11 seats, respectively.
This is the second constitutional process that Chiliafter which concluded in September 2022 with a resounding rejection by the electorate of a project written by a convention with a leftist majority that proposed a radical transformation of Chilean institutions.
Boricwho has not been involved in this election unlike in the plebiscite last year, he indicated that “Regardless of the result, the Government will continue working on the people’s priorities”such as security, health, housing or education.
“This 2024 is going to be a year of good news in which Chili It will grow again and we will take off as a country”he added.
The right defends that the new constitutional proposal is better than the current Magna Carta because “collect” current citizen concerns, such as security or migrationand they assure that its approval will put an end to the four years of institutional uncertainty that caused the social outbreak of 2019.
The left, on the other hand, describes the proposal as “dogmatic” because it perpetuates the model neoliberal that installed the regime and supposes “setbacks” in social rights.
If rejected, the current one will remain in force. Constitution and the constitutional debate will be closed at least during this term because Boric He has already said that he will not push for a third attempt.
