With 61.86% of the votes, Chile rejected this Sunday the proposal for a new Constitution and decided to maintain the current text, inherited from the military dictatorship headed by Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990).
The option of accepting the new Magna Carta, which enshrined a new range of social rights, was supported only by 38.14% of the voters, according to the latest update published in local media, corresponding to 11:46 p.m.
As soon as the trend was confirmed at the polls, dozens of people began to celebrate it, especially in the wealthy neighborhoods of the capital, where the rejection won by more than 10 points of difference, according to international media such as the agency Eph.
?️ Next to @DecideChile of @unholsterwe invite you to follow the results in real time of Chile and the world in this #ConstitutionalPlebiscite entering ?https://t.co/KcowhigYLS#EssentialInformation pic.twitter.com/qzOEweISSW
– Tele13 Radio (@Tele13_Radio) September 5, 2022
A similar gap occurred in Valparaíso, which together with the metropolitan region of Santiago de Chile and Viña del Mar account for nearly half of the more than 15 million people called to the polls today, according to this report.
In a first analysis of the results, the president of the Independent Democratic Union (UDI), a conservative force, Javier Macaya, assured the press that “this absolutely surpassed the traditional scenario of the right against the left. That is the reason why common sense has triumphed today.” Along the same lines, and according to a report by Ephthe senator of the Socialist party in the southern region of Los Lagos, Fidel Espinoza, harshly criticized the conventionalists and summoned them to take responsibility for what he called a “debacle.”
In full scrutiny, the local press revealed that the president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, had summoned the leaders of all political parties to a meeting this Monday at the La Moneda palace to analyze the results.
The rejection of the new Constitution would keep the current one in force, drafted in 1980 during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet and partially reformed in democracy.
After having voted in his hometown of Punta Arenas, Boric, one of the promoters of the new Constitution, guaranteed that his will and “action regardless of the result, will be to call for a broad national unity of all sectors, of all social organizations, civil society, political parties, we want to hear all the voices to be able to continue with this process”.
The yearning for change and dignity require our institutions and political actors to work with more commitment, dialogue, respect and affection, until we arrive at a proposal that interprets us all. Here we go. Long live democracy and long live Chile! pic.twitter.com/f5rQv2G5mJ
— Gabriel Boric Font (@gabrielboric) September 5, 2022
Boric hinted since Sunday that he will undertake a remodeling of his cabinet in the coming days after the resounding victory of the “Rejection”. “Facing these important and urgent challenges will require prompt adjustments in our government teams to face this new period with renewed vigor,” he said on national television shortly after the result was known.
The spokesmen for the “Apruebo” command urged the opposition to fulfill its commitment to advance in the elaboration of a new Constitution. They recalled that the project submitted to a plebiscite this Sunday was the product of a popular consultation carried out in 2020, where almost 80% of the population spoke out for drafting a new Magna Carta.
