CHILE CONSTITUTION: INDEPENDENT AND OPPOSITION CANDITATES WON ONE THIRD OF SEATS IN THE BODY.
Written by miebaka ikiriko on May 18, 2021
Independent and opposition candidates have won a key two thirds of seats in the body that will write a new constitution in Chile.
A new constitution to replace the one dating back to General Pinochet’s Military rule was a crucial demand of protests which swept through Chile in 2019.
Government backed candidates only secured about a fourth of the seats short of the number to make it possible for them to block sweeping changes.
Right-wing President, Sebastian Pinera said it was a historic election in which citizens had sent a clear message, and that his Government and other traditional Parties were not attuned to the demands and aspirations of the people.
Last October, an overwhelming majority of Chileans voted in favour of rewriting the constitution in a referendum, held as a result of mass street demonstrations across the Country a year earlier.