This Sunday's constitutional vote in Chile did not determine the stability of the country and, according to some analysts such as Carlos Peña, little or nothing was at stake. But he removed the political board.
These are the keys to the results of this referendum:
The opponent wins by a large margin
Finally, there were 11 points between the two options: the alternative, on the other hand, reached 55%, while the alternative reached 44%. It's a big gap. Although the Convention proposal was rejected in the previous referendum by 62% to 38%, there was recognition on the right in previous days that a difference of more than 10 points in this referendum was considered very large. In short, the opponent won very comfortably.
High participation
Compulsory voting, reintroduced two elections ago, has resulted in a high turnout, reaching 84% in this referendum. This is a similar number to the referendum at the end of the first constitutional process in September 2022 and the election of the Constitutional Council last May.
Niger and whiter than in the previous referendum
The Constitutional Council election last May saw a historic record of 21% of zero and blank votes. However, in this referendum it fell: it reached 5%. The voters therefore decided to vote for one of the two alternatives on the ballot paper. It was definitely double the previous exit vote in September 2022, when the Noughts and Whites reached 2.14%.
Kast appears without traditional law
The Republican Party was the protagonist of this constitutional process, although it never intended to change the current 1980 Constitution. Its leader, José Antonio Kast, made clear on October 3 his decision to push for the adoption of the text and promised to “turn around”. about” the negative results you gave him in the surveys. Therefore, the defeat of the opposition option has a full impact on this political force, although it does not absolve the traditional right of its responsibility. When Kast admitted his defeat this evening, he did not appear with the historic right grouped in Chile Vamos, but only with the forces of the Republican Party. It is a first example of the tensions that are beginning to be felt in this sector, where a struggle for hegemony is beginning. The Republican Party now has one senator and twelve alternates after part of the party left the political power in the middle of the constitutional process.
Boric doesn't celebrate
The President of the Republic, Gabriel Boric, has made it his mission to appear alone from La Moneda, without the official parties that had previously and jointly responded to the opposition's victory. His speech did not have a celebratory tone and he assured that there would be “neither jubilation nor arrogance” after the result and, above all, confirmed the decision not to insist on a third constitutional process. Boric spoke about how the advocacy campaign invented fake news and that there was even an attempt to turn the popular vote into a referendum on the government, but society said no to this type of policymaking. In a process in which he tried to keep his distance – although the option to reject the text was obvious – the president turned his attention to the upcoming challenges that his administration will have to face from tomorrow: security crisis, pension reform and others.
The ruling party together and relieved
The ten governing parties and the Christian Democrats, a party that is not part of the government but rejected the right-wing proposal for a new constitution, emerged together from the Socialist Party headquarters. They did it in front of President Boric and, unlike the president, interpreted the right-wing proposal in a more directly political manner and with a more directly celebratory tone. “It has become clear that the conditions on the country and society created by Kast, the Republicans and the majority at the beginning of the process are not the aspirations of Chilean families, much less the basis for building a country.” Everyone and we all feel that way committed to moving forward,” said Socialist Party leader Paulina Vodanovic, one of the leaders of a sector that cannot celebrate. Ultimately, the Constitution remains, which has its origins in 1980, in the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, which the left always wanted to replace with a democratic democracy.
The traditional right appeals to constitutional fatigue
The president of the UDI, Javier Macaya, a political force of the traditional right, was one of the first to recognize the defeat of the option represented by his political sector. He did so from the headquarters of his political force in the municipality of Providencia, calling on left-wing forces “not to raise the constitutional question again” after the opposition's victory, attributing the result to “constitutional fatigue.” The chairman of the UDI, who was instrumental in opening a second trial after the fiasco of the first, said that the UDI will sleep peacefully today in relation to the way it participated in the further development of the proposal. It's one of the problems his party has taken care of: He hasn't stopped campaigning so that Republicans wouldn't blame him if he lost. However, not everyone thinks the same: Republican Party advisor Luis Silva criticized Providencia Mayor Evelyn Matthei, from the traditional right: “I think she joined the party late and took a while to come out decisively. “
From now on, this political sector will begin to fight to regain hegemony in the opposition.
Consensus at the end of the process
Following the announcement of the result, there is consensus among all political forces that Chile is ending its attempts to change the current constitution, recognizing voter fatigue.
A broad victory for the “against” in 13 of the 16 regions
The option of those who rejected the proposal for a new constitution pushed by the right won in 13 of the country's 16 regions, while supporters triumphed in only three: Maule, Ñuble and La Araucanía, the southern part of the country plagued by violence , in which the right usually wins. In 76.52% of polling stations surveyed nationally, opponents won in 213 municipalities, while supporters prevailed in 131 municipalities.
The right of the right
Kast's Republican Party failed in this constitutional attempt after a group of political force militants led by Senator Rojo Edwards resigned to pursue their own libertarian project further to the right. They did not agree with the attempt to change the current constitution, they were on the verge of rejecting the project and this Sunday, after learning the results, they came out to settle the score: “Chile's problems are unconstitutional; “That lie was buried today,” the senator said this evening.