Plebiscite in Chile: the polls are closed and Gabriel Boric awaits the results to speak to the country

After a day characterized by high participation, without major incidents, with enthusiasm and expectations throughout the country, polling stations began to close all over Chile. The first results of this historical plebiscite in which the company said yes or no to the new Constitution.

President Gabriel Boric awaited the first calculations from the presidential palace of La Moneda, where he met with his closest ministers from the early hours of the afternoon, when he returned from Punta Arenas, his hometown in the far south of the country, where he had gone. to vote.

The president should have made a speech once the calculations allow for an accurate picture of the outcome.

In any case, his message will certainly be in line with what he put forward in the morning, leaving the voting table, when he launched a strong appeal for unity.

The result will be decisive in defining the direction of his government. Boric, 36, strongly supported this change, even if it is clear that the constitutional text presented does not convince a large part of the population and, even if approved, will have to work to modify the most controversial articles.

In particular, those that refer to plurinationality, the judicial system and the political system.

Many analysts point out that this query is seen as a referendum on the president the youngest in the history of Chile, who came to power last March with the promise to implement the reforms necessary to guarantee a more equitable and democratic country, but which, according to various analysts, has suffered a sharp decline in popularity.

The text

The Constitution presented to this plebiscite wants to replace the one in force today, inherited from the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet – albeit partially reformed in democracy – and seen by a part of society as the origin of inequalities in the countrybecause it promotes the privatization of basic services such as health, education or access to water.

Boric was already clear in recent days that, whatever the outcome of this Sunday, this text written between July 2021 and July this year does not convince most Chileans. And even if it were approved, it could not be implemented as is.

For this reason, the president has already announced that he will work with all political forces both to modify the dissonant articles in case of approval, and to start a new constitutional process in case of rejection.

What Boric has made clear is that he will respect the mandate of the October 2020 plebiscite, in which nearly 80% of Chileans have called for a constitutional change in another plebiscite.

It was the culmination of the gigantic protest movement that began in October 2019, when a multitude took to the streets to demand reforms to end historical inequalities in the country.

Arguments for and against

The new text, drawn up within a year by a convention composed mainly of progressive sectors, with little weight from traditional parties and with equality between men and women, declares Chile a “state of social law” and is considered to be at the forefront. in relation to gender equality and environmental protection.

Its advocates, focused on the left and part of the center, say it will help create a “fairer” Chile because it encompasses a series of new social rights, the main demand citizens have expressed in the wave of protests in 2019.

Its detractors – the right and the other part of the center right – argue instead that it is a “radical” text and that it “does not unite the country”.

The multinational nature of the state, presidential re-election, the judicial system and the elimination of the Senate are some of the issues included in the text that generate more controversy, but the center-left Boric government is committed to making changes to reach agreements.

Santiago, special correspondent