Chile: Rocky Road To New Constitution

Santiago, Sept 5 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 5th Sep, 2022 ) :Chileans on Sunday overwhelmingly rejected a radical draft new constitution that would have revamped the country's dictatorship-era institutions, given greater self-rule to indigenous people and forced the state to provide more basic services.

The result is a major setback for leftwing President Gabriel Boric, who backed the mass protests against inequality that rocked the country three years ago and led to the drafting of a new basic law. Here is a summary of key developments since the revolt.

- October 2019: clashes over metro fares - Protests in Chile's capital, Santiago, against a rise in metro fares escalate into clashes between police and demonstrators angry at gaping social inequality.

Center-right president Sebastian Pinera declares a state of emergency.

Soldiers are deployed in the city the following day for the first time since the end of the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet in 1990.

Pinera -- a billionaire -- suspends the ticket price hike, but protests and clashes continue.

- 'Chile is awake' - The state of emergency is extended to other regions as protests spread with people chanting: "Chile is awake." Around 30 people are killed.

Pinera apologizes and announces more social spending, but a general strike begins with leaders demanding the military return to barracks.

After some 1.2 million Chileans take to the streets in Santiago on October 25, the curfew and state of emergency are lifted and Pinera reshuffles his cabinet.

The street protests continue.

- Constitutional referendum - In a breakthrough on November 15, lawmakers agree to a key opposition demand for a referendum on replacing the Pinochet-era constitution.

The government follows this up in early December with a $5.5-billion social plan, and a month later, the president announces reforms to the health system.

The United Nations, meanwhile, denounces multiple rights violations by police.

- 2020: new clashes - After a period of calm despite demonstrations every Friday in Santiago, new clashes in late January 2020 turn deadly, with four people killed.

Violence erupts again on February 23 at Vina del Mar near Valparaiso, and then in early March in several other towns.

The president announces police reform.

- Lull during pandemic - Chile declares a "national disaster" in mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic, with protests paused and a referendum -- originally scheduled for April -- postponed until October.

- 'Yes' to drafting new constitution - On October 25, Chileans vote nearly four to one (79 percent) for a new constitution to be drawn up.

- 2021: Constitutional assembly - In late March 2021, Chile locks down four-fifths of its population as the virus surges again. The election of the constituent assembly charged with revising the constitution is put off to May.

A third of newly-elected members of the constitutional convention -- a majority left-leaning -- are independents, with no single group winning a majority.

- Ex-student leader elected president - Leftist candidate Gabriel Boric wins the country's presidential election on December 19, 2021, after a polarized campaign, driven by anti-communist sentiment on the right and fear of a return to right-wing tyranny on the left.

- 2022: radical draft charter - The new president introduces several measures to revive the economy and boost social rights.

On July 4, Chile's constitutional convention submits a draft charter which, if adopted, would make Chile one of the most progressive countries in Latin America.

It describes Chile as "a social and democratic State of law," as well as "plurinational, intercultural and ecological." It also gives more autonomy to Indigenous peoples and expands the right to abortion (currently only permitted if there is a risk to the life of the pregnant woman, the fetus is not viable or the pregnancy was caused by rape).

- Chileans reject the changes - Chileans reject the draft constitution by a wider-than-expected margin.

With more than 99 percent of votes counted, 62 percent of voters had rejected the text compared to 38 percent who were in favor.

Boric calls on all the country's political forces to come together and work on a new draft.