Boric begins to outline a new course after broad rejection of the constitutional proposal in Chile

The Chilean President Gabriel Boric and his coalition were shaken on Monday after the rejection of a constitutional proposal and sought to outline a new agreement to lead the process, while the president is preparing changes in his cabinet after a result that analysts see as a punishment for his management.

The progressive president, who took office in March with a historic vote and very high support but who has seen his popularity fall sharply, suffered a severe blow with Sunday’s result after having aligned himself with the option of approving the constitutional proposal.

With 99.99% of the tables counted until Monday morning, the electoral authority reported that the “Rejection” the text was imposed with 61.8% of the votes against 38.1% of the “I approve“, a result that far exceeded the estimates of all the surveys that for months had indicated that the option of rejecting had an advantage.

“This creates another scenario, much more unfavorable for the government,” political analyst René Jara, from the University of Santiago, told Reuters.

“The political actors who feel like winners will have more strength to define the rules of the game, but we are going to see what the president’s ability will be to limit those wills and ensure the minimum that allows the Approval sector to feel represented and summoned,” he added.

On Sunday night, in a sober speech, Boric He said that “the people of Chile have spoken and they have done so loudly and clearly”.

“This decision by Chilean men and women requires our institutions and political actors to work harder, with more dialogue, with more respect and affection, until we arrive at a proposal that interprets us all, that gives confidence, that unites us as country,” he added.

Hit by a drop in popularity amid an economic slowdown, high inflation, a migration crisis and an acute indigenous conflict, among other difficulties, the president also announced during the speech that he would make a change in his cabinet, which is expected for this week.

“In part it is a vote of punishment for the government. Of course there are other factors, but there is a vote of rejection of the government’s lack of initiative in some urgent issues for citizens,” said René Jara.

Markets reacted optimistically on Monday after the overwhelming defeat of the proposal, which had also been questioned for its eventual economic impact. To trace the constitutional path, Boric met on Monday morning with the presidents of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, both from the ruling coalition. With a strong presidential regime and a Congress that must provide legislative support, the president is the one who must give continuity and define how the process will continue.

The president had already said that if the proposal was rejected, the process would have to start again, with another drafting convention, because the will to change the current constitution inherited from the dictatorship and that it be written by an assembly elected for that purpose had already been Widely approved in a plebiscite in October 2020.

But the next steps in the process, whether a new plebiscite will be called, or who will write a second proposal, are precisely the details that politicians will have to define.

“Hopefully, in a limited time we can establish a convention that gives Chile a new constitution that really brings us together,” former Christian Democrat deputy Fuad Chahín, who was part of the constitutional assembly but supported the “Rejection” along with other center-left politicians who decided not to support the text.

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