Chile: The people of Chile will decide in a referendum on Sunday whether to ratify a sweeping new constitution that will fundamentally transform the South American nation.

The proposed charter is to replace a constitution that was enacted 41 years ago by a military dictatorship.

For months the rejection camp has clearly been leading the way in the polls, but the gap is closing, leaving Charter supporters hoping they can win.

Marta Lagos, director of MORI, a local surveyor, said that "the result will clearly be close." "Chile is a political animal that makes decisions at the last minute."

President Gabriel Borik, 36, who has been one of the leading proponents of the new constitution, will deeply feel the effects of the outcome.

Analysts claim that since the country's youngest president, who took office in March, has seen a steep decline in popularity, voters will also see the vote as a referendum for him.

The referendum, which concludes a three-year process that began when the nation, once seen as a model of stability in the region, erupted in student-led street protests in 2019, is mandated.

The increase in the cost of public transport initially caused unrest, but it rapidly grew into widespread demands for greater equality and greater social security.

The country's constitution, which was enacted during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, received only 80% of the vote later that year.

Then, in 2021, delegates were elected to a constitutional convention. Chile largely selected individuals outside the established political establishment to draft the new constitution during the anti-establishment fervor of the time. It was the first conference in the world in which male and female delegates were divided equally.

After months of work, the delegates produced a 178-page document with 388 articles that, among other things, emphasized social issues and gender equality, upholding the rights of the country's indigenous population, and a Puts the environment and climate change at the forefront of the nation. Which is the world's top copper producer. Free rights to housing, health care and education have also been introduced.

The new constitution would recognize parallel justice systems in those regions, establish autonomous indigenous territories and describe Chile as a multi-national state. However, MPs will decide to what extent these provisions will be implemented.

In contrast, the current constitution is a pro-market document that gives the private sector an edge over the government in areas such as healthcare, pensions and education.

Additionally, it makes no mention of the country's indigenous people, who make up about 13% of its 19 million inhabitants.

The first president of the convention, an Indigenous leader named Alyssa Loncon, declared: "This is the door to building a more just, more democratic society." Not that Chile will wake up with all of its political and economic issues fixed immediately, but this is the place to start.

At the closing rally of the pro-Charter campaign on Thursday night, hundreds of thousands of people lined a major avenue in the Chilean capital, a vote that supporters claim reflects a level of enthusiasm that does not vote. Is.

According to LoanCon, polls are not able to accurately represent new voters or, more importantly, younger voters.

As the conference began, Chileans began to dislike the proposed document because they felt it was too left-wing. Paulina Lobos, who is fighting the proposed document, called it an "imposition of left-wing extremists on society at large".

Supporters claim this was, at least in part, due to a flood of false information being spread about the proposed constitution.

But it wasn't just about what was in the documentation. Convention delegates who often make headlines for the wrong reasons - such as one who falsely claimed to have leukemia and another who voted while taking a shower - also irritable Chileans.

Sen Javier Macaya, leader of the Conservative Independent Democratic Union Party, which is fighting for a new constitution, claimed Chile had lost the opportunity to forge a new social settlement. "We are advocating for the option of rejecting (the document) so that we can try and correct it again."

In Macaya's words, a new constitution must be approved by a significant majority "through consensus and compromise".
Although most Chileans, including the country's political leadership, agree that the dictatorship-era constitution should be repealed, it is unclear how this will be done if the current proposal is rejected.

If it is rejected, the upholding of Pinochet's constitution, which no longer meets the needs of Chilean society, will be institutionalized, according to Lonçon.

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