Conservatives win Constitutional Council majority
May 9, 2023
Conservatives won an ample majority on Chile’s new Constitutional Council in elections on Sunday. The far-right Partido Republicano won 35% of the vote, This translates to 23 of 50 seats, which grants veto power to the party, led by Pinochet-admirer José Antonio Kast. Traditional right-wing parties, gathered as the Chile Seguro alliance obtained a further 21% support, 11 seats.
The Unidad para Chile alliance representing the governing progressive administration obtained 16 seats, and came in second in number of votes, 29%. The results are a heavy blow to President Gabriel Boric, who won a runoff vote against Kast 18 months ago.
The results are a significant shift from the election that propelled Boric to power, and also from the progressive, independent dominated Constitutional Convention elected in 2021, which drafted a magna carta rejected by voters last September. Boric called on those who won the election Sunday to “not make the same mistake we did … in believing that pendulums are permanent.”
The vote is a strong repudiation of traditional leftist parties — gathered under the Todo por Chile list, which included prominent politicians from previous progressive governments and that failed to obtain a single seat on the new council.
The Partido de la Gente list, representing leftist political outsiders, also failed to obtain a single seat, an indication that the anti-establishment sentiment that propelled the drive to rewrite the constitution in 2019 has not been satisfied with the eclectic mix of independent personalities who drafted the constitution rejected last year.
About 20% of votes were blank or nullified. Participation in Sunday’s election was mandatory, and about 80 percent eligible voters participated.
(Servicio Electoral de Chile, Associated Press)
The results raise the specter of a magna carta that echos the dictatorship-era document that activists sought to replace — albeit without the taint of being written under General Augusto Pinochet. If so, it might be rejected by voters in a referendum at the end of the year, prolonging political instability in Chile, reports the Guardian.
It’s too soon to see what approach the Council will take, though some analysts predict the right will make some moves to appease voters on areas like expanded social rights, consumer protections and Indigenous recognitions, reports Reuters.
It’s also important to note that the 50 member council will be working off a preliminary draft written by 24 legal experts appointed by Congress. The committee will begin work next month. (Associated Press)
Chileans have tired of the constitutional issue — according to polls, only 31 percent of Chileans are interested in the process of writing a new constitution. (AFP)
Perspectives
The startling pendulum shifts in Chilean voter preferences in recent years is an accelerated version of the reaction and counter reactions seen in more developed countries, and reflects Chilean democracy’s youth, argues Eugenio Tironi in El País.
The apparent paradox, a party that does not want to replace the constitution is now tasked with drafting a new magna carta demanded by an explosive social protest movement in 2019, is based on a mirage, argues Jorge Galindo in El País: the 78% support for a new constitution in a 2020 vote drops to 38% if calculated over the total of eligible voters, rather than just those who participated.
The three main takeaways from Sunday’s vote, for Noam Titelman, are the defeat of efforts to hew to the political center; the consolidation of hardliners, which will force the center-right to negotiate with the Partido Republicano; and an increased difficulty in advancing towards a new constitution, as the current polarized council increases risks of a second rejection by voters. (El Mostrador)
For Sergio Toro, the results demonstrate that last year’s “no” vote does not indicate a shift towards the political center by voters, but instead indicate a strong disaffection by voters. (El Mostrador)
The vote, strongly centered on current policy issues, also forms part of a growing regional concern with public security, notes Brian Winter in America Quarterly. “If corruption was the big issue that turned Latin American politics upside down in the 2010s, violent crime may play the same role in the 2020s in many countries.”