“After adding up the results from more than 99 percent of the polling stations, 78.28 percent of voters supported the creation of a new constitution, while 21.72 percent rejected this option,” the election commission said. Attendance reached about 50 percent.
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The creation of a new constitution is also supported by the country’s president, Sebastián Piňera. “Citizens and democracies have won,” Pinera said after the preliminary results of the vote were announced. Tens of thousands of joyful Chileans subsequently flooded the streets of the metropolis and celebrated victory.
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The current Chilean constitution dates from 1980, ie from the time of Pinochet’s dictatorship, and since then it has undergone fifty amendments. According to her critics, however, it still complicates the change of laws in many areas, because it sets a high quorum for their approval. Many Chileans call for a greater role for the state, especially in education or the pension system.
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The referendum, postponed from April due to the coronavirus crisis, was forced by the Chileans through mass demonstrations last autumn. More than 30 people died and the reason was the long-term unresolved social inequality in this South American country.
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The vote, which decided whether a new constitution should be created and which body should be drafted, took place at a time of the ongoing covidu-19 pandemic. People had to come in veils, and special classes were set aside for voters over the age of 60.
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Depending on the results of the voting, the new constitution is to consist of either a body composed of 86 directly elected members and 86 persons selected from members of parliament, or an assembly of 155 directly elected citizens. According to the preliminary results of the referendum, 155 directly elected citizens received support from the assembly.
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Their election is to take place on April 11, 2021, and the following month the Constituent Assembly is to meet for the first time. The draft of the new constitution must be approved by the Chileans again in a referendum to be held in the second half of 2022.
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