CHILEANS went to the polls today in a referendum on whether to approve a new constitution to replace the country’s dictatorship-era document.

The vote took place over a year after Chileans resoundingly rejected a proposed constitution, written by a left-wing convention, that many described as one of the world’s most progressive charters.

The new draft constitution, largely written by right-wing representatives, is more conservative than the one it seeks to replace because it would deepen free-market principles, reduce state intervention and possibly limit some women’s rights.

If the new charter is rejected, the current constitution, which dates from the 1973-90 dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet but has been amended over the years, will remain in effect.

One of the most controversial articles in the proposed new draft says that “the law protects the life of the unborn,” with a slight change in wording from the current document that some have warned could make abortion fully illegal in the South American country. 

The new proposed document is opposed by many local leaders, who say that it scraps tax on houses that are primary residences, a vital source of state revenue that is paid by the wealthiest.

University of Chile law student Malen Riveros said the fervour that ignited by street protests in 2019 had been lost and for her “the hopes were lost with the passing of time.”