Chile
Children and women will be the losers if voters approve a new document that critics say reads “more like a Republican Party manifesto.”
Sunday, December 17, 2023, 10:00 a.m. GMT
Activists and analysts in Chile have warned that large swaths of the country's population could lose out if a new draft constitution drawn up by conservative lawmakers is approved in a nationwide referendum on Sunday.
Chileans are heading to the polls in a mandatory vote between exhaustion and discontent to decide whether to replace the 1980 constitution, written during Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship and since reformed.
“Children, women, the environment and the welfare state will be the losers,” said Antonia Rivas, a lawyer and anthropologist who helped draft an earlier draft.
“And the winners would be those who already have the most,” she said of the proposal written by a 50-member, all-equal council controlled by the far-right Republican Party.
According to Rivas, the latest draft responds to the issues dominating the news agenda – such as illegal migration and public safety – and reads “more like a Republican Party manifesto.”
“If you write a constitution without thinking about everyone, it is doomed to failure,” she said. “I think that’s the lesson we learned twice.”
Sunday's vote comes after an earlier draft was rejected by voters in a similar referendum last year. This version, which would have been one of the most progressive constitutions in the world, was soundly rejected by 62% of voters.
At this point, Congress seized power and the constitutional question was decisively shifted back into the hands of the traditional political class.
The new proposal is widely seen as a reflection of the ideological program of the conservative, nationalist Republican Party.
It contains clauses declaring it the “duty of the Chilean” to honor the fatherland and its national symbols, including controversial sports such as rodeo.
In other areas, there is a confusing mix of conservative ideologies, including a bill that protects homeschooling – something that has rarely, if ever, been the subject of discussion in Chile.
The proposal also eliminates 17 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Chile's Congress, despite deep-rooted calls for greater decentralization and representation in Chilean politics.
Finally, it declares that the state must promote free competition, entrepreneurship and innovation and firmly enshrines the protection of private property.
Among the most controversial principles is a clause that protects the “life of the born,” which many analysts believe paves the way for abortion – currently allowed in Chile in cases of rape, danger to the life of the mother or other cases of the baby will not survive birth – it will be decriminalized.
“This constitution is dangerous for women because it threatens the rights that we have been able to guarantee through social movements,” said Sofía Rodríguez, spokeswoman for the feminist group Coordinadora Feminista 8M.
“The proposal is a step backwards for Chile and undoubtedly a step backwards for Chilean women.”
Republicans disagree.
“This is a constitution that contains elements that everyone can support – if one political faction had liked the entire document, we would have done a bad job,” said Beatriz Hevia, 31, the Republican-elected president of the Constitutional Council.
Hevia points to equal pay and ensuring women's access to elected office. The proposal also states that a mechanism should ensure that no gender can make up more than 60% of the Chamber of Deputies.
In the final vote before the vote, the “against” option won 55% to 68%.
The “For” option was on the rise, but no poll predicted its victory.
If this proposal is also rejected, the path forward for Chile is unclear, although the 1980 constitution will remain in force in the short term.
President Gabriel Boric has declared that there will be no new constitutional process before the end of his term in office in 2026.
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