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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/18/a-new-chile-political-elite-rejected-in-vote-for-constitutional-assembly">theguardian.com</a>
<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">‘A new Chile’: political elite rejected in vote for constitutional assembly</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">John Bartlett - May 18, 2021<br></div>
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<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><div><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>Across two days of voting, Chileans cast votes for the 155 delegates who will write a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/22/chileans-pinochet-constitution-referendum">new constitution to replace Augusto Pinochet’s 1980 document </a>and the neoliberal model it enshrined.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><div><span><img alt="Communist party members in Santiago celebrate their victories in the constitutional assembly elections." src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/b2607f2a82d4ee645ba7911f59875a3e3725108c/0_0_6184_4123/master/6184.jpg?width=445&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=9c312d7dc0419f286dca12802786841b" style="margin-right: 25px;" width="433" height="289"></span></div><span></span></div></div></div></div><span>Communist party members in Santiago celebrate their victories in the constitutional assembly elections.</span> Photograph: Felipe Figueroa/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock<p>Each bill must be approved by two-thirds of the assembly to be included in the document.</p><p>“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.</p><p>“The participation of indigenous peoples and independent
candidates in a gender-equal constitutional assembly is a launchpad for a
new Chile.”</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>On 25 October 2020, Chileans headed to the polls for the plebiscite and an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/26/chile-vote-scrap-pinochet-constitution">emphatic 78% of voters opted to draft a new constitution</a>.</p><p>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.</p><p>Candidates who stoked the sentiments
of the protests performed strongly, as did those without the baggage of
political affiliation.</p><p>“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.</p><p>“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.”</p><p>Candidates backed by the government also did poorly in
local elections, losing important mayorships and failing to force their
way into gubernatorial run-offs.</p><p>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”.</p><p>“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.</p><p>“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.”</p><div><span><img alt="Communist party candidate Irací Hassler celebrates her election as mayor of Santiago." src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/31251bfac32e512701b2af101ac863e861201def/0_224_6720_4032/master/6720.jpg?width=445&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=503d4e5f1e0d412750c894c973865fd7" style="margin-right: 25px;" width="433" height="260"></span></div><span></span><div class="gmail-container" dir="ltr"><div class="gmail-content"><div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><div><span>Communist party candidate Irací Hassler celebrates her election as mayor of Santiago.</span> Photograph: Felipe Figueroa/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock<p>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.</p><p>A period of solemn
introspection has begun for the country’s traditional political parties,
including debate over potential presidential candidates.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>Chileans will vote in presidential and congressional elections in November this year.</p><p>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.</p><p>Until the vote takes place, the 1980 constitution will remain in force.<br></p></div><h2><span> </span></h2><p><br></p></div></div>
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