The Republican Party was the clear winner of Chile’s Constitutional Council elections this Sunday with more than 99% of the votes counted.
Monopolized the formation of José Antonio Kast, the radical right candidate who lost the 2021 presidential election to current leader Gabriel Boric more than 35% of the votesaccording to the Chilean Electoral Service (Servel).
With it, will provide 22 of the 51 directors (50 representatives of the political parties and one of the indigenous peoples) who will have the task of drafting a new constitution during the year.
Boric’s left-wing coalition, Unity for Chile, won 28% of the votes and 17 directorsfewer than the 21 that would have given him the right to veto the drafting of Magna Carta.
The conservative Chilean Seguro group received 21.5% of the vote and would secure the remaining 11 councillors, while coalitions Todo por Chile and Partido de la Gente – center-left and liberal respectively – are not represented.
The right and centre-right coalitions add 33 Council members, giving them a great deal of autonomy in drafting the Magna Carta submitted to a referendum to replace the current one from 1980.
In addition, the victory of the far-right formation is particularly symbolic at a time when the popularity of the Boric government is at an all-time low.
He highlighted the large number of zero and blank votes, which exceeded 2.2 million, more than 21% of the total.
The election was conducted at 38,665 polling stations distributed among 2,932 polling stations across Chile.
The 51 members of the council must draft a new constitution to replace the one promulgated during the military regime of General Augusto Pinochet.
This is the second attempt since then in september last year voters rejected a first proposal with 62% dissenting.
This constitutional text had been drafted by a committee dominated by representatives of the left and independents, forcing a review of the strategy for implementing a new Magna Carta.
