Elections in Chile: in a crucial test for his government, Boric spoke of “reconciliation” and asked to vote “without fear”

The president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, said this Sunday that the country has “a historic opportunity to reconcile” and who hopes that the people will vote “informed” and “without fear” in this Sunday’s constituent elections, marked by the lack of information and fed up of the political class.

In the elections, the fifty councilors who enlist a new magna carta proposalwhich will then have to be approved or rejected in December of this year.

“As a country, we have a historic opportunity to reconcile, after the fractures we have experienced, and move towards a country developed and inclusivewhere no one is left behind,” said Boric, after voting in his native Punta Arenas in the far south.

The sovereign, who will now travel to Santiago to follow the votes from the La Moneda palace, has ensured that both the government and the political parties that support him will respect the results of these constitutive elections, the second in two years, “to the letter”.

“Whatever the result, configure the election of new administrators progress for the countrywhere we managed to find an agreement to give continuity to a process that hasn’t been easy,” he added.

This Sunday, more than 15.1 million citizens will choose the 50 councilors who will draft a second proposal for a constitution, after the failure of the first text in last September’s plebiscite.

Unlike the effervescence of the previous process, these elections are marked by the lack of public interest.

Electoral fatigue – Chile has held seven elections since the 2019 protests -, the failure of the previous process and the unprecedented security crisis that the country is going through explain, according to experts, the disaffection with these elections.

The former student leader called for the elections not to be “a short-term political struggle or a struggle between politicians” and urged “not to think about the next elections, but about the next generation”.

“I trust the wisdom of the Chilean people and I hope people vote informed, without fear,” he added.

Although it is difficult to predict because of the great apathy and because voting is compulsory – unlike two years ago – there is consensus that the balance of power will be very different from the previous constituent, dominated by the left.

The right and the far right are the big favourites, and the key is whether they will get enough seats (30 or more) to pass the constitutional rules without needing to negotiate.

“In our recent history there has been an important lesson about what happens when we entrench, when those who legitimately think differently and don’t speak up. Today we have the opportunity to do it differently,” the president acknowledged. .

“Let’s generate a debate in which legitimate differences emerge, but always keeping our people ahead. This time there is no margin for error,” he concluded.