Poll: Half of Chile Still Wants to Replace Constitution After Voting Against Doing So Last Week

Half of Chile’s population still wants to replace the nation’s constitution, according to a poll carried out by the Chilean market research company Cadem one week after the nation voted overwhelmingly against replacing the constitution.

The new constitution Chileans rejected featured dramatic changes to the current, 42-year-old document full of far-left proposals that many in international media deemed would have made it the world’s “most progressive.” 

Leftists have for years demanded a new constitution on the grounds that the current document was implemented in 1980 during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet – even though it has been amended 31 times, rendering it a significant departure from the law initially adopted. A new constitution was among the demands of a movement of violent leftist rioters that originally protested against a proposed public transit fare hike in 2019.

In 2020, 78.31 percent of the Chilean electorate voted in favor of starting the proceedings to establish and elect a constitutional convention tasked with drafting a new constitution for Chile that would be then submitted to approval or rejection via a mandatory referendum. The rejected 388-article constitution proposal was drafted in the span of a year by a predominantly leftist constitutional convention, whose members were elected in 2021. The convention counted on the open support of far-left political figures around the world, including Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), author Noam Chomsky, and former Britain Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Cadem’s post-constitutional referendum poll, published on Sunday, asked Chileans what to do after the results of the September 4 election and the rejection of the proposed constitution. Half, or 50 percent, answered that “a new constituent process must be carried out that allows for a new Constitution.”

On the other hand, 46 percent answered that they prefer to “reform the current Constitution as necessary,” rather than draft an entirely new constitution. The poll also found that 70 percent of those who prefer to reform the current constitution ideologically identify as center-right and had voted to reject the proposed constitution on September 4.

In contrast, 79 percent of those who answered in favor of a new constitution ideologically identified as center-left. For a hypothetical new constitutional convention, 48 percent answered that they would prefer a “mixed” convention, with one half elected and one half composed of experts designated by Congress. Only 27 percent preferred a fully elected convention, and 20 percent supported a convention composed only by experts.

The poll also found that 77 percent supported maintaining gender limits on who can serve in a new constitutional convention. In 2020, a law was passed and signed by then-president Sebastián Piñera that mandated the convention be composed half of men and half of women — a pursuit that ended with multiple women having to cede their spots obtained via vote to men.

Cadem’s poll also measured far-left President Gabriel Boric’s approval ratings following the rejection of the constitutional proposal — which he prominently promoted — and found only 33 percent of Chileans approve of their president, who they elected less than a year ago. Boric boasted a 60-percent disapproval rating.

After the far-left constitutional proposal was overwhelmingly rejected, Boric immediately announced that rather than desist on replacing Chile’s constitution he would promote a new constitutional process in Chile.

In an official event commemorating the 49th anniversary of Augusto Pinochet’s coup and removal of socialist leader Salvador Allende in 1973, Boric stated that he is “deeply convinced that during our [presidential] term we will have a constitution of which all of us, beyond our legitimate political differences, can feel proud.”