Chileans seek independent constitution
Abolishing Pinochet-era Magna Carta a pressing concern
Chileans voted at the weekend for people not aligned to political parties to form the bulk of a 155-member body that will rewrite a dictatorship-era constitution widely blamed for deep social inequality.
A new constitution was a key demand of 2019 protests that left several dozen dead, but paved the way for what has been labeled Chile's most important election since its return to democracy 31 years ago.
The outcome of the vote on Saturday and Sunday was interpreted as a rebuke of the ruling right and of traditional political parties.
President Sebastian Pinera said the outcome showed that his government and political parties were not "attuned to the demands and aspirations of citizens."
"We are being challenged by new expressions and new leadership," he said.
Independent candidates, with a broad platform of individual campaign promises and programs, had not been predicted to get much traction, but ended up winning the biggest tranche of votes, with about 40 percent.
With nearly 90 percent of the vote counted, candidates aligned to leftist parties received a third of ballots, while the right - in power in Chile - garnered just over 20 percent.
Most of the independents "are outsiders, without membership of a party and critical of the traditional parties," said Marcelo Mella, a political scientist at the University of Santiago.
"The political system is being reconfigured," added Mireya Davila of the University of Chile's Institute of Public Affairs.
"The electoral force of the independents is much greater than previously thought and this confirms that the citizenry is fed up with the traditional parties."
The country's existing Magna Carta dates from 1980, enacted at the height of Augusto Pinochet's 1973-90 rule.
It promotes private enterprise in all sectors of the economy, including education, health and pensions in a country ranked as one of the most unequal among advanced economies.
This inequality was one of the main drivers of the October 2019 protests that resulted in the government agreeing a month later to a referendum on a new constitution.
On October 25, 2020, 80 percent voted for a new constitution to be drawn up by a body of elected members.
Parties on the left broadly campaigned for a new constitution guaranteeing greater state control of mineral and other natural resources, and more public spending on education, health, pensions and social welfare.
Those on the right largely defend the capitalist, free-market system they thank for Chile's decades of economic growth.
The strong outcome for independents makes it unclear which way the needle will swing.
A new constitution was a key demand of 2019 protests that left several dozen dead, but paved the way for what has been labeled Chile's most important election since its return to democracy 31 years ago.
The outcome of the vote on Saturday and Sunday was interpreted as a rebuke of the ruling right and of traditional political parties.
President Sebastian Pinera said the outcome showed that his government and political parties were not "attuned to the demands and aspirations of citizens."
"We are being challenged by new expressions and new leadership," he said.
Independent candidates, with a broad platform of individual campaign promises and programs, had not been predicted to get much traction, but ended up winning the biggest tranche of votes, with about 40 percent.
With nearly 90 percent of the vote counted, candidates aligned to leftist parties received a third of ballots, while the right - in power in Chile - garnered just over 20 percent.
Most of the independents "are outsiders, without membership of a party and critical of the traditional parties," said Marcelo Mella, a political scientist at the University of Santiago.
"The political system is being reconfigured," added Mireya Davila of the University of Chile's Institute of Public Affairs.
"The electoral force of the independents is much greater than previously thought and this confirms that the citizenry is fed up with the traditional parties."
The country's existing Magna Carta dates from 1980, enacted at the height of Augusto Pinochet's 1973-90 rule.
It promotes private enterprise in all sectors of the economy, including education, health and pensions in a country ranked as one of the most unequal among advanced economies.
This inequality was one of the main drivers of the October 2019 protests that resulted in the government agreeing a month later to a referendum on a new constitution.
On October 25, 2020, 80 percent voted for a new constitution to be drawn up by a body of elected members.
Parties on the left broadly campaigned for a new constitution guaranteeing greater state control of mineral and other natural resources, and more public spending on education, health, pensions and social welfare.
Those on the right largely defend the capitalist, free-market system they thank for Chile's decades of economic growth.
The strong outcome for independents makes it unclear which way the needle will swing.
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