Official October Plebiscite Campaign Begins in Chile
This Wednesday Chile will begin the electoral campaign for the historic constitutional plebiscite on October 25, a contest marked by the coronavirus pandemic and in which the main challenge is to prevent the fear of contagion from discouraging the vote.
With 400,000 infected and nearly 11,000 dead since March due to Covid-19, but with the pandemic in decline, political parties began to deploy their powerful propaganda machinery to convince Chileans to vote for or against repealing the current Constitution, written during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990).
A survey carried out between August 14 and 19 with some 800 people, and made public two days ago in Santiago, showed that there is a positive assessment of the constituent process called for the month of October, while 41 percent see it as “an opportunity for change”, 19 percent describe it with the word “hope”, Telesur reports.
In that sense, according to the pollster, the number of people who feel uncertainty about the plebiscite to be held next October is a minority, while there is largely a perception that this opportunity will generate positive changes in the country (65 percent), in the democracy and in people’s lives.
If the consultation is approved, the election of the constituents will be held on April 11, coinciding with the regional and municipal elections, and the new constitution, which must be drawn up in a maximum of one year, will be ratified in another vote, with suffrage required.
Featured image: File image
Translation: OT/JRE/EF
