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2023 Chilean Constitutional Council election

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Constitutional Council elections were held in Chile on 7 May 2023.[1][2] Voting was compulsory,[3] and resulted in an electoral victory for right-wing parties, passing the threshold of a three-fifths majority of constitutional council members to freely draft a new constitution, removing the veto option from left-wing members. This marked a sharp shift from a left-wing majority that freely drafted a rejected first constitutional rewrite in 2021 and was described as a political loss for President Gabriel Boric.[4][5]

2023 Chilean Constitutional Council election
Chile
7 May 2023
50 general seats and 0 to 2 indigenous seats
in the Constitutional Council
Turnout84.91%
Party Vote % Seats
Republican Party

34.34 23
Unity for Chile

27.73 16
Safe Chile

20.42 11
Indigenous list

3.03 1
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

The elections came in response to the rejection of a proposed constitutional draft in a national referendum held in September 2022. Following the defeat of the draft, a multiparty agreement was reached to restart the process, which was subsequently ratified by Congress via a constitutional amendment. The new Constitutional Council was modeled after the Senate and consisted of 50 members, elected by regions. Additionally, the council had an equal number of men and women. The drafted constitution was rejected in a referendum later in 2023.

Background

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See also: 2022 Chilean national plebiscite, 2021 Chilean Constitutional Convention election, and 2020 Chilean national plebiscite

On 4 September 2022,[6] a national plebiscite known as the "exit plebiscite"[7][8] was held to determine whether voters agreed with the new Political Constitution of the Republic drafted by the Constitutional Convention earlier that year. The proposed constitution, which had faced "intense criticism that it was too long, too left-wing and too radical",[9] was rejected by a margin of 62% to 38%.[10][11] It was considered one of the world’s most progressive constitutions, but many voters found it too polarising, and controversies mired the process.[5] Therefore, the current 1980 Constitution continued to be in effect.

Agreement for Chile

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Lawmakers announced the "Agreement for Chile" in December 2022, as a second attempt to draft a new constitution with different rules. The agreement states that a group of 50 directly-elected constitutional advisors will draft the constitution based on a preliminary draft prepared by a commission of 24 experts appointed by Congress. Additionally, a 14-member body appointed by Congress will ensure that the proposed text aligns with the 12 institutional and fundamental principles outlined in the agreement.[12]

The agreement was reached on 12 December 2022,[3] and ratified by the right-wing Congress a month later,[13][14] with the Republican Party and the Party of the People not participating in the agreement while agreeing to participate in the elections.[3] This new system would involve two councils; a Congress-elected Council of Experts and a popular election of a Constitutional Council.[13] In this first phase on 25 January 2022, Congress chose members on the Council of Experts. Independent Democratic Union politician Hernán Larraín, who previously supported the Pinochet dictatorship was chosen to head the Council of Experts to draft the new constitution.[15]

Council members would be directly elected in May, with equal representation of men and women and the participation of indigenous peoples. A three-fifths majority vote in the Council is required to approve articles, which is lower than the two-thirds majority required in the previous convention. Unlike the previous convention, the number of seats reserved for indigenous representatives was not fixed; rather, it will depend on the number of votes they receive. The commission's work period on the first draft was set from 6 March to 6 June, and the Constitutional Council would commence its work thirty days after its election on 6 June 2023. The council was given a deadline to deliver the draft constitution by 6 November, and a mandatory referendum was set to be held on 17 December 2023.[16]

Electoral system

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The general 50 seats in the Constitutional Council were elected in the same manner as members of the Senate of Chile, which is multi-member proportional representation (D'Hondt method) with open lists in constituencies of between two and five seats corresponding to the regions. As in the previous constituent body, there will be additional seats reserved for indigenous peoples, but this time they will be based on their percentage of votes, and not according to a number set in advance by ethnic group. There is also gender parity required, in which the lists presented by the parties alternate male and female candidates, with measures in place to adjust should the election result in an imbalance (the final chamber must contain 25 men and 25 women).

Contesting parties and coalitions

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Coalition Parties Ideology Political position Previous election Candidates
% Votes Seats Number Regions
Unity for Chile
Unidad para Chile
List
Democratic socialism
 Left-wing[5] 24.83%[n 1]
46 / 155
Safe Chile
Chile Seguro
List
 Conservatism
Liberal conservatism 		Centre-right to
right-wing[5] 		19.53%
37 / 155
Everything for Chile
Todo por Chile
List
 Social liberalism
Progressivism 		Centre[5] to
centre-left 		7.41%
6 / 155
  Republican Party
Partido Republicano
List
 National conservatism
Right-wing populism 		Right-wing[17] to far-right[5] 1.04%
0 / 155
Party of the People
Pacto con la Gente
List
 Populism
E-democracy 		Centre to
right-wing 		New
0 / 155
Lists of independent candidates 11.21%
8 / 155
Independent candidates outside lists

Opinion polls

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Polling firm Fieldwork date Sample size UxCh TxCh Dem AxCh PDG ChS PLR Ind. Undecided Lead
AD SD DC
PCCh FA PS PPD
Activa 11–14 Apr 2023 1,020 13.8 4.8 – – 6.9 8.1 7.7 - 58.7 5.7
Tú Influye 30 Mar – 2 Apr 2023 1,121 25 6 – – 4 12 14 - 39 11
Tú Influyes 2–6 Mar 2023 1,000 24 7 – – 4 13 10 – 42 11
Activa 20–24 Feb 2023 816 10 5.9 – – 5 10.1 7.5 – 61.5 0.1
Panel Ciudadano 8–9 Feb 2023 4,862 15 6 – – 5 15 9 – 50 Tie
Activa 23–27 Jan 2023 870 14.1 7.4 – – 9.4 8.3 8.2 – 52.6 4.7
20.3 – – 11.8 10.4 7.5 – 50.0 8.5
22.8 – – 12.6 15.0 – 49.6 7.8
Cadem 14–16 Dec 2022 707 8 7 4 3 4 4 8 12 10 5 35 2
Cadem 16–18 Nov 2022 702 5 8 3 5 – 4 14 13 10 8 30 1
Cadem 2–4 Nov 2022 708 7 7 6 3 – 8 15 14 9 9 22 1

Results

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The list of the 51 members who were elected was posted shortly after the election.[18]

 
Party or allianceVotes%Seats
Republican Party3,470,85534.3423
Unity for ChileCommunist Party of Chile791,8567.832
Socialist Party of Chile584,1425.786
Social Convergence560,7995.554
Democratic Revolution424,3464.204
Comunes220,5152.180
Liberal Party114,7471.140
Social Green Regionalist Federation99,5270.980
Humanist Action6,8510.070
Total2,802,78327.7316
Safe ChileIndependent Democrat Union868,1678.596
National Renewal724,3847.174
Evópoli471,9034.671
Total2,064,45420.4211
Everything for ChileChristian Democratic Party370,5793.670
Party for Democracy352,2883.490
Radical Party of Chile154,6971.530
Total877,5648.680
Party of the People537,1945.310
Independents48,5240.480
Indigenous list306,6813.031
Total10,108,055100.0051
Valid votes10,108,05578.57
Invalid votes2,169,62516.87
Blank votes586,6674.56
Total votes12,864,347100.00
Registered voters/turnout15,150,57184.91
Source: SERVEL (99.99% counted)

Indigenous member

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CandidateVotes%
Alihuen Antileo Navarrete160,80552.43
Julio Marileo Calfuqueo145,87647.57
Total306,681100.00
Valid votes306,68181.91
Invalid votes49,63913.26
Blank votes18,0994.83
Total votes374,419100.00
Registered voters/turnout374,75399.91
Source: SERVEL (99.90% counted)

Aftermath

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Analysis

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Chilean right-wing parties, which were opposed to major changes to the constitution,[19] won a 3/5 majority of constitutional council members to freely draft a new constitution and removing the veto option for the left-wing camp. This marked a sharp shift from a left-wing majority that freely drafted a rejected first constitutional rewrite in 2021,[5] and reflected disillusionment with the government of President Gabriel Boric, whose approval rating stood at under 35%.[19]

The far-right Republican Party[20][21][22][23][24] became the leading political force with 34% of the vote and 23 members, giving the party a veto right on amendments. President Boric’s left-wing coalition garnered about 28% and 16 seats, while a separate coalition of traditional right-wing parties gained more than 21% of the vote and 11 seats. Centrist parties took the remainder of the vote while failing to gain seats.[5]

According to the BBC, "analysts say the new body will now face an uphill struggle to reconcile the ideas of its conservative majority with the clamour for change which triggered the process in the first place."[25]

 
Command of the Republican Party after the party's victory in May 2023
 
Luis Silva, the candidate who obtained the most votes

A number of "historic" Party for Democracy militants expressed their belief that running on separate lists from the left was a mistake since the centrist Todo por Chile did not gain a single councillor despite obtaining 9% of the vote.[26] El Mostrador blamed Party for Democracy's party leader Natalia Piergentili for this decision.[27] Piergentili would later be replaced as party leader by Jaime Quintana in September.[28]

Defeat in the election was described by Ex-Ante to have "pensioned off" a number of candidates who were formerly elected officials through much of the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s.[29] Among these were the defunct Concertación's Andrés Zaldívar, Sergio Bitar, Carmen Frei, Marcelo Schilling and Jaime Ravinet.[29]

Reactions

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The Republican Party said that they would immediately reject any proposal to make abortion a constitutional right, with the party spokesman Luis Silva Irarrázaval saying "women’s reproductive rights are not essential to a constitution".[30] Silva, the Republican Party’s most-voted candidate, told Al Jazeera’s Lucia Newman that they never wanted to replace the dictatorship-era constitution of Augusto Pinochet, stating "It’s our starting point. This process allows us to introduce new aspects to it that we believe our constitution deserves."[5] Republican Party leader José Antonio Kast, who lost to president Boric in the 2021 general election, held a victory speech in Santiago; "Today is the first day of a better future, a new start for Chile. Chile has defeated a failed government."[5] President Boric conceded, adding that the government would act as a guarantor and support requests from the new council; “the government won’t meddle with the process and will respect the entity’s autonomy in its deliberation.”[5] President Boric was criticized by some left-wing politicians for adopting a moderate position and abandoning previous political promises.[30]

The house of the farmer Héctor Urban in Ercilla, Araucanía Region, was attacked with gunfire following his election as Constitutional Council member.[31][32] The same night of the attack, Tuesday 9, the car of Urban's father and a police station in Ercilla were also attacked with gunfire.[32] The identity of the assailants is unknown.[32]

Notes

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  1. ^ Results for Apruebo Dignidad (18.74%, 28 seats), PS (4.84%, 15 seats) and PPD (2.58%, 3 seats) in the 2021 election.

References

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  1. ^ "Cámara despacha a ley reforma de nuevo proceso constituyente". Cámara de Diputadas y Diputados (in Spanish). 11 January 2023. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  2. ^ "Chilean lawmakers reach agreement to start work on new constitution". Reuters. 13 December 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  3. ^ a b c "Chilean Political Parties Agree to Have Another Go at Rewriting Constitution". Bloomberg.com. 13 December 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  4. ^ Phillips, Tom (8 May 2023). "Chile: major blow to president as far right triumphs in key constitution vote". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Chile's conservatives win most seats on constitution rewrite body". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  6. ^ Fuentes, Cristóbal (5 April 2022). "Ya hay fecha: plebiscito de salida para votar una nueva Constitución será el 4". La Tercera. Archived from the original on 5 April 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  7. ^ Armaza, Christian (26 October 2020). "Plebiscito de salida: la instancia donde se aprobará o rechazará la nueva Constitución". El Día (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  8. ^ "Plebiscito de Salida: cuándo es y por qué es urgente". chile.as.com. 13 March 2022. Archived from the original on 13 March 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  9. ^ Schmidt, Samantha (5 September 2022). "Chilean voters decisively reject leftist constitution". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on 5 September 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  10. ^ "Plebiscito: Chile rechaza propuesta de nueva Constitución con histórica participación de más de 12 millones de personas". La Tercera. 4 September 2022. Archived from the original on 4 September 2022. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  11. ^ "Chile votes overwhelmingly to reject new, progressive constitution". The Guardian. 5 September 2022. Archived from the original on 5 September 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  12. ^ "Third Time's a Charm? Chile Embarks on a New Constitution-making Process". ConstitutionNet. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  13. ^ a b "Chile's New Constitutional Process Shifts to the Right". NACLA. 15 February 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  14. ^ Welle (www.dw.com), Deutsche. "Parlamento chileno aprueba reforma que habilita nuevo proceso constituyente | DW | 11.01.2023". DW.COM (in European Spanish). Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  15. ^ Valdivia Ortiz de Zárate, Verónica (25 January 2016). "La unión demócrata independiente (udi): un caso de conservadurismo modernizador en Chile" [Union democrata independiente (udi): a case of modernizing conservatism in Chile]. Nuevo Mundo Mundos Nuevos (in Spanish). doi:10.4000/nuevomundo.68811. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  16. ^ Dispatch, Peoples (15 January 2023). "Chilean Congress approves bill to launch new constituent process". Peoples Dispatch. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  17. ^ "El auge del Partido Republicano: el sistema electoral, la moderación de la derecha clásica y las crisis económicas, de seguridad y de migración" (in Spanish). El País. 9 May 2023. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  18. ^ S.A.P, El Mercurio (7 February 2023). "Región por región: Conoce el listado de candidatos inscritos por los partidos para la elección de consejeros | Emol.com". Emol (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  19. ^ a b Phillips, Tom (8 May 2023). "Chile: major blow to president as far right triumphs in key constitution vote". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  20. ^ "Chile constitution: Far-right party biggest in new assembly". BBC News. 8 May 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  21. ^ "Far Right Holds Chile Hostage". NACLA. 23 May 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  22. ^ "Chile: Far-right party on top in constitution rewrite vote". Deutsche Welle. 8 May 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  23. ^ "Chile's far-right party wins most seats on constitutional rewrite committee". France 24. 8 May 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  24. ^ Phillips, Tom (8 May 2023). "Chile: major blow to president as far right triumphs in key constitution vote". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  25. ^ "Chile constitution: Far-right party biggest in new assembly". BBC News. 8 May 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  26. ^ "Históricos del PPD criticaron dos listas tras fracaso en elección de consejeros". Diario UChile (in Spanish). 10 May 2023. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  27. ^ "Consejo Nacional del PPD fijará el próximo 27 de mayo la fecha para convocar elecciones internas". El Mostrador (in Spanish). 8 May 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  28. ^ Palacios, Cristóbal (5 September 2023). "Senador Quintana asume en el PPD con llamado a acuerdo por 50 años del Golpe: "El sector que decida marginarse deberá pensarlo muy bien"". La Tercera. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  29. ^ a b "Cómo la elección de consejeros constitucionales marcó la jubilación política de la "vieja guardia"". Ex-Ante (in Spanish). 8 May 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  30. ^ a b "Far Right Holds Chile Hostage". NACLA. 23 May 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  31. ^ Martínez Tapia, Sandra; Martínez, Carlos (9 May 2023). "Atacan a balazos casa del recién electo consejero republicano Héctor Urban en Ercilla". Radio Bío-Bío (in Spanish). Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  32. ^ a b c "Balean casa del electo consejero republicano Héctor Urban en Ercilla: horas antes atacaron a su padre y a Carabineros". The Clinic (in Spanish). 9 May 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
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