The Americas | A constitutional quagmire

For a second time Chileans reject a new constitution. Now what?

After four years of discussions over a new basic law, patience is wearing thin

A man leaves a voting booth during a referendum on a new Chilean constitution, in Santiago. — Photograph: Reuters

Dec 18th 2023|Santiago

For the past four years Chileans have engaged in a rare democratic experiment. They have twice been asked to vote on a new constitution, and twice they have rejected the product on offer. The discussion kicked off in 2019, when violent protests over inequality rocked the country. Politicians offered citizens the chance to elect an assembly to write a new social contract. But the assembly was dominated by the hard left and alienated most voters. In a referendum in 2022 nearly two-thirds of Chileans voted against the charter. Then the politicians offered citizens the chance to elect an assembly to have another go. This time it ended up being dominated by the right. On December 17th, 56% of voters rejected its proposed text.

This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline “A constitutional quagmire”