“Do you want a New Constitution?”

On Sunday, October 25, Chile will vote to decide whether to draft and adopt a new Constitution or to maintain the current one, which dates from 1980 and was drawn up during the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. It is a very important vote, because the call for a new Constitution has become increasingly central during the anti-government protests that began in Santiago, the capital of Chile, in October of last year and continued despite the restrictions imposed by the pandemic. of coronavirus. It is also the first time in the history of Chile that a change of the Constitution is proposed by referendum.

There are two ballots for the referendum. The first contains a dry question: “Do you want a New Constitution?”, “Do you want a new Constitution?” The options are ‘approve’ and ‘reject’, respectively ‘approve’ and ‘reject’. Regardless of the answer given in the first ballot, voters will be able to answer the question of the second ballot, with which they will decide what type of body will finally have to take charge of the drafting of the new Constitution. The options are: a mixed assembly composed of directly elected and parliamentary members, or a constitutional assembly composed only of directly elected members (in the latter case, gender equality will be guaranteed).

In both cases, however, a certain number of seats will be reserved for indigenous peoples, although the Chilean Congress has not yet established how many.

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If you win the rejection option, the 1980 Constitution will remain in effect. If “I approve” wins – an option that has been widely favored in recent days – then a very specific and already planned process will be activated, which will begin on April 11, 2021 with the elections to decide who will be the directly elected members who will take part of the assembly in charge of writing the new Constitution. The assembly is expected to take office in May 2021, and a referendum will be held in the second half of 2022 on the text of the new Constitution.

Demonstrators who during the last year participated in protests against the Chilean government, led by conservative President Sebastián Piñera, said they were in favor of a change in the Constitution: they argue that the 1980 Constitution, drawn up by an authoritarian military regime, even contributes today to maintain the deep inequalities that characterize Chile, and to avoid any structural change in a system that privileges the entire private apparatus over the public (for example in the education and health sectors).

– Read also: Why do they protest in Chile

In the ruling center-right coalition, there are different positions on the referendum. The Independent Democratic Union (UDI), a right-wing party founded by one of the drafters of the 1980 Constitution, Jaime Guzmán, ruled not to modify the Constitution, arguing that the Yes victory would be “a leap into the void” that could undermine the growth of Chile, which before the start of the protests was considered one of the most stable countries in Latin America. National Renovation, Piñera’s party, proved to be much more divided, with some exponents saying they wanted to vote for a change in the Constitution and others who will speak out to maintain the current one.

A precise anti-COVID-19 protocol was adopted for today’s referendum. Among other things, new voting spaces have been enabled, in order to avoid gatherings as much as possible, there will be a time slot in which polling stations will be accessible only to people over 60 years of age and it will be possible for voters to bring their Household pens: the use of a mask and disinfecting hands will also be mandatory before and after the vote.