Is Chile’s Constitution Rewrite Heading for Another Failure?

Bloomberg — As members of the Constitution Council in Chile vote on the final articles and amendments of a new draft charter, it is increasingly looking like a waste of time.

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A poll released late Sunday by Cadem showed that while 64% of Chileans want a new constitution, only 21% back the latest draft, while 59% plan to vote against it in a plebiscite on Dec. 17.

The support level is the lowest since at least March, Cadem said.

A right-wing dominated council of 50 members is voting on amendments to a draft presented by a council of experts earlier this year. Among some of the most contentious articles are ones that could lead to a ban on abortion rights, the expulsion of illegal migrants “as soon as possible” and an end to property taxes on people’s primary residency.

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Even Evelyn Matthei, a mayor in the Santiago municipality of Providencia and a member of the right-wing UDI party, said that the council is overstepping the mark and heading for failure.

In an interview Sunday with El Mercurio, Matthei, who has been mentioned as a possible presidential candidate, said that the draft “looks like a government program and not a constitution.”

A year ago, Chileans voted overwhelmingly against a first draft of a constitution that was deemed too radical and anti-free market.

President Gabriel Boric has said that the government won’t insist on a third attempt at a constitution if this one is rejected, leaving Chile with the charter drawn up during the former military regime of Augusto Pinochet.

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