The elections have rethought the political map of Chile, which seeks a new constitution without locks – Telam

The elections held this Saturday and Sunday in Chile sealed a triple defeat for the right-wing coalition of President Sebastin Piera, whose meager results in conventional constituencies, mayors and governors have opened an unprecedented process for the development of a new Magna Carta, during an election. year it goes up for the president.

With cso 100% of the votes counted, the big loser was right and its formations Unin Democrata Independiente (UDI), Renovacin Nacional (RN) and Evolucin Poltica (Evopoli), which as a coalition “Chile Vamos” they lost iconic mayors, they failed to reach the voters they expected and they only managed to put on the ballot 8 candidates for governor.

In search of a new Magna Carta

To the surprise of much of the political arc, the complex process catapulted in October 2019 with the social outbreak that demanded the end of the institutional framework inherited from the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, will develop without the anchors, the locks and the padlocks that the right imposed when it was they negotiated the conditions to write a new Constitution.

Indeed, if a third of the voters had been reached, the right could have vetoed any initiative that deviated from the spirit of the current Magna Carta imposed by the dictator, without electoral registers or citizen control, a text that much of this policy sectoral claims.

However, the results were not as expected and the coalition obtained only 37 of the 52 necessary out of a total of 155 that will constitute the Constituent Convention.

Joy in networks

Social media exploded last night, after a tense wait for the process – for the first time developed in two consecutive days due to the coronavirus pandemic – and with great uncertainty due to the low turnout which stood at 43.35% , significantly lower than that of the plebiscite of October 25, 2020, where the participation rate at the polls was 50.9%.

“#The great Alamedas have been opened,” said one of the many hashtags that dominated Twitter trends last night in Chile, recalling Salvador Allende’s last words, delivered on September 11, 1973, when his government was toppled democratic.

The Chilean press points out, however, that fthat all “the party of order”, as are called the two main coalitions which ruled the country in the post-dictatorship (the right-wing “Chile Vamos” and the centrist ex-Concertacin, made up of socialists, radicals and Christian Democrats) one who has received the punishment of the vows.

In a framework of atomized opposition, in fact, the coalition “Approve”, of the former Concertacin, added only 25 voters, while “J’approuve la dignité”, which brings together the Front large, the PC, Democratic Revolution (DR) and other groups, 28 representatives were added and the independent lists were increased with 48 conventional seats.

A total of 17 constituent quotas were reserved for indigenous peoples.

Town halls

The ruling party has also lost iconic mayors, as the Santiago, Maip and Via del Mar that after decades of right-wing hegemony, they will be occupied by a representative of the PC and two of the Dominican Republic.

In Recoleta, Las Condes y Providencia, sus respectivos alcaldes, el comunista Daniel Jadue, y los UDI Joaqun Lavn y Evelyn Matthei -todos anotados para las elecciones presidenciales del prximo noviembre- lograron cmodos resultados que les permitieron ser reelectos o poner a sus load.

Governorates

The election of governors also brought headaches to “Chile Vamos”, completing the results triangle that complicates the future electoral aspirations of this force, as well as the last section of President Piera.

The process allows choose for the first time at the polls at regional governors across the country, a new post which replaces the mayors, who, until now, were appointed by the President of the Republic.

With 99.89% of polls scrutinized, out of the 16 regional governments of Valparaso and southern Aysn and Magallanes, there are already three winners who have exceeded 40%, while in the remaining 13 regions, there are will have polls.

Of the three governorates already defined, Valparaso corresponds to the Front Large, Aysn to the Socialist Party and Magallanes to the pact of independent constituent unit, all the opposition coalitions, according to the results published on the website of the electoral commission.

The law indicates that for these elections to governors, the winner is proclaimed who holds 40% or more of the votes (in case of being the only one) or 50% plus one, and otherwise a second round is organized, as in 13 of the 16 Chilean regions.

In the poll to be held next Sunday, June 13, the ruling party was only able to place candidates in eight regions., but by no means is victory assured.

On Sunday evening, with the numbers for the process out, Piera made a mea culpa on the national channel.

“The citizen sent us a clear and strong message to the government and to all the traditional political forces. We are not listening to the requests and wishes of the citizen,” said the president, escorted by his cabinet.

Apart from the June 13 poll, the Chilean electoral calendar provides for presidential and parliamentary primaries on July 18; presidential and parliamentary elections, primary presidential, parliamentary and regional elections on November 21 and, where applicable, a presidential election on December 19.