Candidates outside the political parties are the big winners in the historic elections this weekend in Chile to elect the Convention in charge of drafting a new Constitution for the country.
With 99, 91% of votes counted, independent achieves n almost a third of the posts (48 seats), in elections in which traditional political parties obtain a much lower representation than expected.
The sum of the independents with the two great opposition lists ( I approve of Dignity , with 28 seats, and Approval List , with 19) exceeds two thirds of the 155 Convention seats , which will feature 17 quotas reserved for indigenous peoples and will have parity between men and women, something unprecedented in the world.
With that count, the candidacy of the ruling right, backed by President Sebastián Piñera – who appeared in a single list called “Vamos por Chile” – remains, with 45 seats , far from the 52 (one third) required to influence the content of the new Magna Carta and veto articles.
Throughout the weekend, Chileans went to the polls to elect the members of the Constituent Convention who will write the new Charter Magna.
The percentage of participation is unknown at the moment, in some marked elections for the coronavirus pandemic.
Punishment of the parties
The result of the vote is interpreted as a punishment to the ruling right and to traditional political parties.
President Piñera himself affirmed that neither the Government nor the traditional parties are “adequately tuning in with the demands and desires of the citizens.”
“We are being challenged by new expressions and leaderships . It is our duty to listen with humility and attention to the message of the people. ”
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“The political system is being reconfigured” , Mireya Dávila, from the Institute of Public Affairs of the University of Chile, told the AFP agency.
“The electoral strength of the independents is much greater than previously thought and this confirms that the citizens are fed up with traditional parties. ”
A change
The change of the Constitution was one of the main demands during the protests that erupted in October 2020 in Chile.
The elections took place amid strict security measures due to the coronavirus.
The current Chilean Magna Carta dates from 1980 and, although it was modified several times, it is criticized for being inheritance of the military regime of Augusto Pinochet and for consolidating a residual role of the State in the provision of basic services.
It promotes private enterprise in all sectors of the economy, including education, health and pensions, in a country that, although it has the highest per capita in Latin America, is also classified as one of the most unequal among advanced economies .
This inequality was one of the main drivers of the protests, in which the change to the Constitution emerged as the only way out for reform this system that, for many, had ended up turning Chile into a “private company.”
The protests resulted in the government agreeing to a referendum on a new Constitution.
Thus, in October of . the 80%) change this Constitution.
Gender parity
A total of 1. as candidates for the Convention, including traditional actors, writers, teachers, social workers, lawyers and politicians.
The Convention has been elected under a gender parity mechanism unique in the world , which guarantees a minimum of 45% of women .
The Constitutional Convention also incorporates the ten peoples Chilean natives recognized by the State, and Among them, the Mapuches, Aymara, Quechuas and Diaguitas. Of the 155 members of the assembly, 17 Seats are reserved for indigenous people .
The constituent assembly will have 9 months to present a new constitutional text , which may be extended for 3 more months in a single opportunity.
Then, in the middle of to approve or reject the proposed new constitutional text.
Voters also elected regional governors, mayors and local councilors, in elections considered as a litmus test for the presidential elections, which will be held in November.
Voting took place over two days to reduce crowds amidst the bro covid tea – 25 which has resulted in more than 1.2 million registered cases and almost 30. 000 deaths in Chile.
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