What is at stake in Chile’s upcoming elections

Chileans will choose members who will draw up a new constitution as well as state and local officials in elections.

Santiago, Chile – On a sunny winter’s day in Chile’s capital, a group of neighbours in La Reina, a county on Santiago’s east side, gathered to support the candidates for the Constitutional Convention, days before what could be the country’s most important election ever. In good spirits, they waved flags, laughed and greeted each other with their elbows. They wore masks and shared alcohol gel. Renato Garrido, one of the candidates, urged people to vote because, he said: “A new constitution will be the only way our country can have participation, justice, true freedom and growth. When the citizens feel they are being heard they can reach agreements, with respect and tolerance for all opinions. We must do this out of our love for Chile.” On May 15 and 16, Chileans will go to the polls to elect 155 members of the Constitutional Convention.  Its mission will be the writing of a new constitution which should be submitted to a referendum in 2022. After a long struggle, the current constitution – written in the ’80s under the Pinochet dictatorship and much amended in the years since – will be left aside.