Voters reject new Chile constitution

Chilean voters have rejected a proposed new constitution drafted by a conservative-led committee, election officials said, meaning that the charter imposed during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet will remain in force.With 99% of referendum ballots counted, the "against” option prevailed with 55.75% of the vote, compared to 44.25% in favour, according to electoral service Servel just hours after voting ended around 6pm (2100 GMT) on Sunday.Four years after Chile launched its constitutional reform process in response to massive protests that broke out in 2019, and following two failed draft efforts – the country is back at square one.The latest version of a new proposed constitution was overseen by the far-right opposition Republican Party after voters roundly rejected a progressive draft in September 2022 that attempted to enshrine environmental protections and the right to elective abortion.Leftist President Gabriel Boric said last month that this would be his last attempt to reform the constitution, in order to focus on stability and long-term development.On Sunday, he reiterated the message."The country got polarised, divided,” Boric said during a televised address, adding that the result shows the process "didn’t channel the hopes of having a new constitution written by everyone”."With this – during this mandate – the constitutional process is closed. There are other urgent matters,” Boric said."Our country will continue with the current constitution, because after two plebiscites on proposed constitutions, neither managed to represent or unite Chile in its beautiful diversity,” added the president, who had supported the first proposal overseen by the left but remained neutral in the second effort.The process to rewrite the 1980 constitution, adopted under the Augusto Pinochet military dictatorship, began as a bid to ease mass protests that broke out in 2019 against social inequality.In a 2020 referendum, 80% voted for replacing the constitution.However, in the years since, enthusiasm has been dampened by the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, inflation and economic stagnation, a growing sense of insecurity, and voter fatigue."There is not much spirit, as this is an exhausting process,” information technology worker Nicolas Mora, 29, said after voting.Nina Vidal, 65, a secretary in the city of Valparaiso said on Sunday that she was inspired by the first referendum but lost confidence in the second referendum."I sincerely thought things were going to change” the first time, she said after casting her ballot. "But unfortunately, nothing changes.”Paulina Salas, a 56-year-old homemaker, said she hopes that after this vote Chile can return to calm.There is a need for "stability, that people can go back to work, to have safety with regard to their job and everyday life”, she said.The 1980 constitution is widely blamed for allowing companies and the elite to enrich themselves at the expense of the poor, working classes.