Chilean President Gabriel Boric has vowed to quickly launch a new constitutional process after a referendum rejected the country’s new constitution by a margin of almost 12 percentage points.
In an intervention on public television on Sunday, Boric also called on all Chileans to “look together and united in the construction of the future.”
The head of state confirmed that he had summoned the leaders of Congress and representatives of civil society to a meeting this Monday at the presidential residence, La Moneda.
“When we act in unity is when we bring out the best in ourselves,” Boric said.
“I promise to do everything on my part to build, together with Congress and civil society, a new constitutional path,” said the President.
“The people of Chile spoke and did so in a clear and forceful way,” added Boric.
With around 96% of the votes counted, the ‘no’ vote won by almost 12 points, obtaining 61.9% compared to 38.1% for the ‘yes’ vote. The mandatory referendum, in which about 70% of the population participated, resulted in a strong turnout, with long lines at polling stations.
The ‘no’ vote triumphed in the 16 regions of the country, including the capital and the coastal region of Valparaíso, having even obtained more than 70% in various regions of central-southern Chile. The ‘yes’ only triumphed among Chilean communities abroad.
“Today we are consolidating a large majority of Chileans who saw rejection as a path of hope,” said Carlos Salinas, spokesman for the campaign against the new Constitution.
“We want to tell the government of President Gabriel Boric (…) that today he must be the president of all Chileans and together we have to move forward,” added Salinas.
“Chileans demanded a new opportunity to meet and we have to live up to this call,” Boric stressed.
Even before the referendum, the President had already announced that he would call for a new constitutional process and that the mandate of the October 2020 referendum, in which almost 80% of Chileans called for a constitutional change, would be fulfilled.
The spokespersons for the campaign in favor of the new Constitution have already acknowledged defeat, but they also promised to continue working on the constitutional reform, arguing that the population wants to abandon the current text, inherited from the dictatorship (1973-1990).
“It was a historic day that we highly value because it strengthens our democracy. Citizens decided to reject the text proposed by the constituent assembly (…) we recognized the result and listened with humility”, said Vlado Mirosevic.
Another spokeswoman, Karol Cariola, a member of the Communist Party, assured her commitment “to generate the necessary conditions to effectively channel the popular will and build a path” for a new Constitution.
Source: TSF
