Plebiscite in Chile: Gabriel Boric seeks a major political agreement to draft a new Constitution

Gabriel Boric knows he has no time to waste. This Monday he arrived a few minutes before 8 in the morning at the presidential palace of La Moneda to start a day full of meetings with the leaders of the various political forces and with their main ministers.

After the harsh defeat of Sunday’s plebiscite, when the overwhelming majority of Chileans said “no” to a government-backed constitutional proposal, the president knows he must urgently show a change of course.

The resounding 61% who rejected the text drafted for a year – against the 38% who said yes – marks an inevitable path for the former student leader who became president of Chile six months ago with promises of change, democratization and renewal, but which is losing popularity while in the country the discomfort due to inflation, insecurity or the Mapuche conflict in the south worsens.

Boric put it forward on Sunday evening, when he announced that this Monday he would initiate contacts with all political forces to advance in a new constitutional process that now has the consent of the whole – or at least a significant majority – of society.

Because there is a conviction that is still alive in this country since the social uprising of 2019, which marked a break from which there is no turning back: the vast majority of Chileans want a new Constitution that replaces the one of 1980, a legacy of the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet which is still in force and, for many, is the origin of the profound inequalities social, economic and political of the country.

dating marathon

Lawmakers and leaders of center, center-right and center-left political parties marched in front of the press this Monday to reaffirm their willingness to work with the government to achieve that goal.

Far from being vindictive, the center-left opposition to the Executive was largely willing to collaborate, with a strong role for Parliament, to begin drafting a new Magna Carta. The only sector that did not respond to the president’s appeal was the right-wing Chile Vamos coalition, led by former presidential candidate José Antonio Kast.

“Chile wants a new Constitution. But he wants a good Constitution. This is not what was rejected, ”he explained Clarione The analyst Roberto Izikson, head of public relations at the consulting firm Cadem, who for months had announced the almost certain triumph of the Refusal.

But no poll had foreseen such a marked difference among the detractors and defenders of this project, resisted above all by sectors of the center and the right, but also by the more moderate left.

“The biggest surprise was the turnout. More than 13 million people voted ”, more than 85% of the electoral lists. One reason is surely that for the first time in more than a decade, the election was mandatory.

But in addition, an important part of the population that usually did not go to vote mobilized this time to express their opinion on a constitutional text that divided the Chileans, as we saw in the last section of the campaign, when the tension between supporters on both sides led to clashes and even some episodes of violence.

what was refused

This Constitution established a “welfare state of rights”, with changes in health, education and retirement, with a strong emphasis on preserving the environment and protecting new rights.

But it also established the country’s plurinationality, with greater territorial autonomy and justice for the original peoples, who represent about 13% of the population. This was one of the points that caused the most resistancealong with some changes in the political system, such as the elimination of the Senate.

He also referred to the right to abortion, but without specifying up to what week, which led to a strong movement against it.

Consent

Boric met on Monday morning the heads of the Senate, the socialist Alvaro Elizalde, and of the lower house, Raúl Soto (of the ruling Democracy Party).

Both then stated that the president asked them “that a dialogue be developed within the National Congress that would allow for the establishment of an institutional path to advance in the constitutional process”.

For Deputy Soto, “the time has come for the policy of agreements, to recover the capacity for understanding, which unfortunately we have lost in recent times”.

In La Moneda, Boric led the political committee with all parties in the ruling coalition Approve Dignity.

In the early afternoon, government spokesperson Camila Vallejo summed up the press: Just as the president did in a Sunday night speech, spoke of “self-criticism” and assured that, in addition to working for a new Constitution, they will focus on management. He specifically mentioned the issues that most concern Chileans in all sectors: the cost of living and security.

And he announced that the president will also meet with governors and local government representatives.

Now an important change of figures in the Executive is expected. No names have been announced yet, but Boric is expected to unravel the mystery on Tuesday. According to analysts, he will have to show a more homogeneous cabinet, one that leaves the cracks and focuses on management.

Santiago, special correspondent