From the Metro to the Convention
Photograph of a woman reading the referendum results in a newspaper in Santiago, Chile. Photo courtesy of Esteban Felix of the Associated Press.
On 25 October, Chilean voters approved a referendum to re-write its constitution, the first step in the reformation of Chile's dictatorial constitutional structure.
This year's plebiscite asked two questions: first, whether the constitution should be re-written, and second, what type of body should be assembled to draft the document.
Over 78 per cent supported the re-writing of the constitution, while nearly 79 per cent approved an elected constitutional convention to oversee the re-drafting process.
The 2020 referendum was in response to a chain of mass protests in Chile, which started in October 2019. The 2019 protests began as a demonstration against a four per cent hike in Santiago's metro fare but developed into national protests against the government regarding the high cost of living, privatisation, and inequity in Chile.
The protests were incredibly disruptive to the government's operations, leading to protest suppression methods that were later criticised by United Nations officials as human rights violations.
The protests lasted from October to March when the government declared a lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but later resumed in September.
The current constitution was 1980 by General Augusto Pinochet, Chile's dictator from 1974 to 1990. The constitution does not include many basic rights that many Chileans favour, such as those to education, healthcare, and housing, according to the British Broadcasting Corporation.
Over the last 20 years, poverty levels in Chile have dropped significantly, and Chile is the wealthiest country in South America by GDP. However, inequality and the cost of living are still relatively high in Chile, leading many Chileans to push for wide-spanning reforms to Chile's governance.
Chile's right-wing president, Sebastián Piñera, praised the peaceful nature of the vote and urged Chileans to 'work together so that the new constitution is the great framework of unity, stability and the future'.
A second referendum, alongside municipal elections, is scheduled to take place in April 2021 to choose the officials responsible for writing the draft constitution. A third referendum will take place no later than August 2022 to either approve or reject the document that the constitutional convention present.
The convention will include many reformative provisions, such as provisions mandating that half of its members be women as well as reserved seats for indigenous groups. Chile's body will be the first of its kind to include a gender parity rule, as reported by The Washington Post.
While any person can be elected to the drafting convention, the largest parties and political groups retain an edge in obtaining nominations and running campaigns. The rules favour those with previous political experience, but current members of the legislature are barred from running.
Any decisions by the body will require a two-thirds majority both to ensure a 'high-degree of consensus'. However, such a high threshold could make some of the more controversial constitutional decisions difficult to approve.
The overwhelming support for constitutional and government reform has swept Chile and threatens much of the established political class. Many Chileans see the government as sitting in a state of stagnation and as not appealing to their interests.
However, with the track to a new constitution, Chile may see a new era of political governance and law in Santiago.
Sources:
‘UN human rights report cites ‘multiple root causes’ of deadly Chile protests’. UN News, United Nations, 13 Dec. 2019,
https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/12/1053491
‘Jubilation as Chile votes to rewrite constitution’. BBC News, British Broadcasting Corporation, 26 Oct. 2020,
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-54687090
Piscopo, Jennifer M. and Siavelis, Peter. ‘Chile voted to write a new constitution. Will it promise more than the government can deliver?’. The Washington Post, Nash Holdings, 30 Oct. 2020,