The president of the Republic, Gabriel Boricaccompanied by his partner, Irina Karamanos, his parents and one of his two brothers, voted this Sunday in the southern city of Punta Arenas, and urged Chileans to “write our history” in front of the “eyes of the world that is watching us”.
In statements to the media after casting his vote, the president also guaranteed that whatever the result, the Executive will exhaust its legislature and will summon all the social and political forces to continue with the process, either by applying the new text in case it wins approval or to write another one in case of rejection.
“This is a historic moment of which it is very important that all of us, regardless of our choice, feel deeply proud because in the difficult times we are going through as a country we have taken as a path, as an option to resolve our differences, advance towards more democracy and never in less”, he remembered.
“We are building a country in unity and regardless of the result, the role that I am going to play as President of the Republic and as a Government we are going to commit ourselves together with you is to meet as a country, to advance in justice, in equality, in greater growth for all and for all”he claimed.
“They are watching us, from all over the world, let us exercise our right and duty to write our history by voting responsibly, calmly, calmly and with great joy and pride”he proposed.
“I can guarantee that our will and our action, regardless of the result, will be to call for a broad national unity from all sectors, from all social organizations, from civil society, from political parties, we want to hear all the voices to to be able to continue with this process.”he underlined.
“Either to implement the text of the new constitution, for which we have already summoned several constitutionalists and several personalities from civil society, or also to give continuity to the constitutional process in case the other option wins”he claimed.
Exists “in the vast majority the spirit of working together, divisions are not good for us and when we come together is when the best of us comes out, of our identity”he added.
GOVERNMENT CONTINUITY
The president insisted that he will continue with his agenda during the remaining three and a half years of his term and did not rule out the possibility of a government restructuring in the coming days or weeks, assuring that he has learned from his predecessors “that there is to continuously evaluate the teams”.
“Be certain that tonight, tomorrow and the three and a half years that remain we will continue to govern firmly at the helm and that the priorities of you, the citizens, will not change. one iota regardless of what the result is”he highlighted.
About 9:15 am local time in Magellan, borik became the first president of the Republic to vote in the Magallanes region, in the Armado Quezada Schoolwhere he studied as a child and located a few meters from the family home in Punta Arenas.
Magallanes, located in the extreme south of Chile, has been one of the first territories to open the voting centers for the consultation, to which almost 15 million citizens are called and which for the first time is mandatory without the need to register.
The region, and in particular Punta Arenas, is one of the strongholds of the president, who began his political career there as a senator.
On the way to the polling station, the president’s brother told the press that they vote “hopefully.”
MANDATORY PLEBISCITE
Nearly 3,000 voting centers open this Sunday in Chile to start one of the most important votes in its recent history, in which more than 15.1 million Chileans will decide whether to approve or reject the proposed new Constitution.
If approved, the text will replace the current Magna Carta, inherited from the dictatorship (1973-1990) and seen by a part of society as the origin of the country’s inequalities by promoting the privatization of basic services, such as education, health or pensions.
If rejected, the current Fundamental Law will remain in force, although the Chilean president, Gabriel Boric, has already announced that he will convene a new constitutional process and that the mandate of the October 2020 plebiscite will be fulfilled, in which almost 80% of Chileans called for a constitutional change.
The polls will be open until 6:00 p.m. local time (9:00 p.m. GMT) and the result, which is expected to be very close, will be known a couple of hours later.
EFE
