[News] ‘A new Chile’: political elite rejected in vote for constitutional assembly

[Anti-Imperialist News]

theguardian.com
<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/18/a-new-chile-political-elite-rejected-in-vote-for-constitutional-assembly>
‘A
new Chile’: political elite rejected in vote for constitutional assembly
John Bartlett - May 18, 2021
------------------------------

Chile’s established political elite has been roundly rejected at the polls
six months ahead of a pivotal presidential election, as the country turned
to a progressive new generation to write the next chapter in its history.

Resounding victories for leftist and independent candidates saw rightwing
politicians crash to dismal electoral defeats alongside those with links to
Chile’s transition to democracy.

Across two days of voting, Chileans cast votes for the 155 delegates who
will write a new constitution to replace Augusto Pinochet’s 1980 document
<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/22/chileans-pinochet-constitution-referendum>and
the neoliberal model it enshrined.

People also voted for regional governors for the first time ever, as well
as for councillors and mayors – with candidates backed by president
Sebastián Piñera’s Chile Vamos coalition faring poorly in each case.

Crucially, with the government coalition’s list securing only 37 seats in
the assembly, Chile’s traditional right-wing fell well short of the
one-third bloc it had targeted to obstruct the inclusion of progressive
articles the constitution.
[image: Communist party members in Santiago celebrate their victories in
the constitutional assembly elections.]
Communist party members in Santiago celebrate their victories in the
constitutional assembly elections. Photograph: Felipe Figueroa/SOPA
Images/REX/Shutterstock

Each bill must be approved by two-thirds of the assembly to be included in
the document.

“Many people are saying that yesterday was the day that the transition to
democracy finally reached its conclusion,” said Verónica Figueroa Huencho,
an academic at the University of Chile’s school of public affairs.

“The participation of indigenous peoples and independent candidates in a
gender-equal constitutional assembly is a launchpad for a new Chile.”

The 155-member assembly will include 47 independent candidates and 17
representing the country’s 10 indigenous groups, whose participation was
guaranteed for the first time in Chile.

Gender parity had been assured before the vote took place – for the first
time ever in a national constitutional project – yet female candidates
performed so well that the eventual adjustment ended up favouring men.

In late 2019, a mass protest movement exploded in Chile, targeting the
country’s insulated and disconnected political elite as well inequalities
engendered by the dictatorship’s economic model. From the mass of demands
that arose from the demonstrations, a constitutional referendum was
scheduled as political parties’ response to the crisis.

On 25 October 2020, Chileans headed to the polls for the plebiscite
and an emphatic
78% of voters opted to draft a new constitution
<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/26/chile-vote-scrap-pinochet-constitution>
.

As people gathered in Plaza Italia in Santiago that night, dubbed Plaza
Dignidad as it became the centre of the protest movement, the word “Reborn”
was projected triumphantly onto a nearby building – but the rejuvenation of
the political landscape was only finalised when Chileans came to vote this
weekend.

Candidates who stoked the sentiments of the protests performed strongly, as
did those without the baggage of political affiliation.

“This weekend we have seen the categorical rejection of the constitution
and the political culture it fomented,” said Fernando Atria, a law
professor who has campaigned in favour of writing a new constitution and
was elected to the assembly over the weekend.

“The current constitution was designed to prevent transformation and
progress, but our role now is to create a new political system that is
capable of responding to the demands of the people.”

Candidates backed by the government also did poorly in local elections,
losing important mayorships and failing to force their way into
gubernatorial run-offs.

In an address from the presidential palace on Sunday night, Piñera
recognised that Chile’s “traditional political forces” were “not in tune
with people’s demands”.

“This is the triumph of social and political unity,” declared Santiago’s
mayor-elect, Irací Hassler, in the city’s Plaza de Armas, flanked by
several of the women who won their elections.

“This is the beginning of a significant change in the way we do politics.
The protest movement, feminist strikes and socio-environmental movements
are here to stay.”
[image: Communist party candidate Irací Hassler celebrates her election as
mayor of Santiago.]
Communist party candidate Irací Hassler celebrates her election as mayor of
Santiago. Photograph: Felipe Figueroa/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock

Hassler usurped incumbent Felipe Alessandri, who was running for a second
term backed by Piñera’s coalition, to claim the district in the heart of
the capital for Chile’s Communist party.

A period of solemn introspection has begun for the country’s traditional
political parties, including debate over potential presidential candidates.

However, the Frente Amplio, Chile’s main opposition coalition which had
only recently fragmented and seen doubt cast over its future, managed to
perform strongly.

Its presidential candidate, Gabriel Boric, a veteran of Chile’s 2011
education protests, profited from the rush of optimism that accompanied the
vote to collect the signatures required to register his candidacy on Monday.

Chileans will vote in presidential and congressional elections in November
this year.

Meanwhile, the constitutional assembly will have a maximum of 12 months to
draft a new constitution, which will be ratified at the conclusion of the
process by a plebiscite in which voting will be compulsory.

Until the vote takes place, the 1980 constitution will remain in force.
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