Immediately after the results of the constitutional plebiscite were known, various political actors gave their impressions regarding the triumph of the “Against” option, with a difference close to 12%.
Various parliamentarians from Ñuble were the first to react to the vote, who commented on a historic election that, according to the ruling party, is the last in terms of constitutional processes.
The National Renewal deputy, Frank Sauberbaum, maintained that this is a defeat “for those who wanted to make a constitutional change by force.” The parliamentarian added that “I would have preferred the vote to win, because it was a good constitutional text, it was not ideal by any means, but I thought it could be a good opportunity to improve and modernize the current constitution.”
Sauberbaum explained that the signal of this vote refers to the fact that “the people do not want constitutional changes, but rather they want us to dedicate ourselves to discussing what is really afflicting them. In Chile we have a million unemployed, crime is rampant, there are immigration problems that have not been resolved, long waiting lists, and therefore the call of desperate people is to be able to talk about what is really important. It is a matter of talking with the neighbors every day to realize that the constitutional issue was never a priority for them.”
“The great losers are those who wanted to establish a constitution by force, because we do not feel defeated, we are left with a constitution that we have always defended, because we believe that it respects the freedom of people, allows undertaking, having a relationship of development regarding the state as well,” indicated the deputy. “The big losers are those who stay with Pinochet’s constitution,” he stated.
On the other hand, Sara Concha, deputy of the Social Christian Party, expressed her agreement with the victory of “En Contra” and maintained that this is a reflection “of the discontent with the constitutional proposal.”
The representative for Ñuble asserted that “we are celebrating that citizens are expressing their vote through this plebiscite that marks something important for our country, because here a new and good constitution was promised in a record time that is impossible, so this is a manifestation of citizenship.”
“The vast majority of our militants were for the Against option. We realized, when studying the text, that there were major shortcomings, that the fundamental issues of citizenship were not being resolved.” Regarding the processes that are coming in the short term, the parliamentarian stressed that the efforts “must be concentrated on security and health issues. “This process started badly and ended badly, citizens are waiting for a clear signal, for example, against corruption.”
Voices of the UDI
The Independent Democratic Union also had comments regarding the victory of “Against”. Specifically, the senator for Ñuble Gustavo Sanhueza explained that the results reflect what the citizens wanted.
“In two processes there has been no desire to change the constitution and there is a clear message, I have received feedback in the tours we took, in my case, through the Ñuble Region where we actually won by the A Favor election, that there are other emergencies that are required and for that we need a government that is effectively committed to these emergencies and that we are able to advance, both politically and legislatively. Today the emergencies have to do with security or with economic reactivation, where we have a country that is absolutely stagnant. Today the process is closed and we hope that the Government will focus on promoting initiatives that seek to generate economic growth that will allow us to reduce unemployment and move our country forward,” said Sanhueza.
Regarding the victory of the “A Favor” option in the Ñuble Region, the legislator indicated that this is a sign of the work they did previously in the various communes of the region and the reflection of the support of the people for the right-wing political sector. .
“We did a good job during the campaign and so did all those who work in the election, as representatives, since it is a fairly sacrificial task and in the process we thank all those who are vocal. “There was a clean and transparent process.”
PR reaction
One of the first political parties in Ñuble to react was the Radical, from where they evaluated the results of this vote as a victory. In that sense, the communal president of the Radical Party, Olga Arzola, said that “we are going to meet with the command and see what we will do with the authorities as well. We are going to celebrate in a certain way and I think that with this election we have given an answer to the people that was really what they wanted. We are happy, happy to see this triumph that was worth the sacrifice, because not all people are informed, not everyone wanted to participate and the truth of the matter is that it cost a lot to run this campaign.”
On the other hand, he added that this process was “difficult,” but that they do not see a new constituent process in the short term.
“Not yet, I think this is going to be a long time, I think in one or two more periods, but not before, it’s still very early.”
The vice president of the party in Chillán, Ricardo Rodríguez, maintained that citizens “do not want any constitution of extremes.” In that sense, he added that “the Government has to get to work for the real things that citizens care about, security, work, health. It is the moment when we have to start working, but not only the Government, but all the authorities.”
Yungay Against
The results of the plebiscite showed that in Ñuble the prevalence of “A Favor” was wide and joined Maule and Araucanía as the only three regions of the country where the option won.
But the commune of Yungay was the only one in Ñuble where En Contra won, with 50.59%, an option that was widely shared by its mayor, Rafael Cifuentes.
In that sense, its communal leader said that “I would like to express that I am happy with the result of the vote obtained. An important vote at the national level and in my community. With each neighbor we spoke with, we said that this draft Constitution did not represent us, since it did not advance a real decentralization that would allow more resources to reach our communities.”
Cifuentes also added that Ñuble “is one of the poorest regions in the country and we need the main bodies that govern us to have a seal towards strengthening the roles of the municipalities, and this project was going in the completely opposite direction. “I am happy for our people.”
