Chileans cast their votes to elect committee to draft new constitution

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
7 May 2023 21:53

The committee will present a new constitutional draft based on 12 fixed principles that will be voted on in December.

A citizen receiving a copy of the proposed Chilean constitution ahead of the September 2022 constitutional referendum, outside the government palace in Santiago, Chile August 19, 2022. The slogan reads 'Chile votes informed.' (Reuters)

Chileans hit the poles on Sunday to elect the 50 members of a committee that will be responsible for presenting a new constitution to replace the one introduced in 1980 under the US-backed Augusto Pinochet dictatorship.

This is the second time that a vote was carried out in the country on a new constitution.

In September 2022, 62 percent of Chilean voters rejected a draft proposed by a 2021-elected constitutional assembly made up mostly of non-partisan politicians. However, this time only politically-affiliated candidates can be selected.

Starting at 8:00 am Sunday and until 6:00 pm, over 15 million eligible Chilean voters will be selecting the new 50-person committee from 350 competing candidates.

A preliminary text that includes 12 fixed principles will be provided for the elected body, which would be made up of 25 women and 25 men, charged with drafting the new constitution that would be subjected to a popular vote in December.

"As a country we have a historic opportunity to reconcile ourselves after the fractures we've lived through and to advance toward a developed and inclusive country," said leftist President Gabriel Boric, Chile's youngest leader ever who was elected in 2021.

American-backed Pinochet was propped up as a means of toppling socialist president Salvador Allende, the country's first socialist President voted into office on September 4, 1970, and sworn in two months later.

The Pinochet-era constitution - which has undergone various reforms since its adoption - has given private enterprise free rein over crucial industries. It also created an uneven ground that allows for the rich to fester and get richer while also widening the wedge between the social classes, promoting more struggle for the poor class.