Chileans will go to the polls this Sunday to say whether they approve the text of the new Constitution. The document was drafted by an assembly of 154 members elected in 2021, equally elected by indigenous peoples. Approval of the new text will allow Gabriel Boric’s government to carry out reforms.
Equality and guarantees of social rights, recognition of a multinational state and regionalization are some of the proposals of the text that are considered progressive and innovative by international observers. But in Chile, the new constitution divides the population. According to polls, the rejection of the project should win.
What happens if it is rejected?
In case of refusal, Chile will retain the current Constitution, which will complicate the socialist government of Gabriel Boric, which relies on the new text to carry out major reforms such as finances, social security or health.
For experts, tax reform, one of the main themes of Boric’s campaign, will be one of the most difficult. The change in taxes will require fundamental changes in the economic sphere, which is difficult to implement under the rules of the current, highly liberal Constitution inherited from the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship.
Faced with a possible scenario of rejection, the Chilean president has already announced that the founding process must continue because there is popular consensus that the dictatorship-era Constitution should be changed. Chileans voiced this trend in the first referendum in October 2020, when a “yes” to renewal won.
But in practice it is not that simple as it is the Parliament that decides on a new constituent assembly. There is no guarantee that the conservative right will accept a new constitutional process.
Finally, if the rejection wins, the country could experience a fresh wave of protests, largely from the student movement, largely in favor of the new Constitution. For some Chileans, rejection would be synonymous with social conflict.
And in case of confirmation?
If approved, Boric can count on the new text to carry out his reforms, but it could take months or even years to implement. Transition rules would need to be applied to build bridges between the current and new Constitution, and this would require the government to negotiate with different parties in the Parliament.
Whatever the outcome, Boric will have the difficult task of uniting a divided country that is starting to show the first signs of fatigue.
source: Noticias
