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News > Chile

Chile: Lower House Postpones Plebiscite Amid Covid-19 Fears

  • Subway commuters in a wagon this Tuesday in Santiago (Chile). Chile has already confirmed more than 900 infected with coronavirus in the country, the vast majority of them in the Metropolitan Region.

    Subway commuters in a wagon this Tuesday in Santiago (Chile). Chile has already confirmed more than 900 infected with coronavirus in the country, the vast majority of them in the Metropolitan Region. | Photo: EFE

Published 24 March 2020
Opinion

By 109 votes in favor, one against and one abstention, the Chamber of Deputies approved the initiative - remaining ready to be a law - which sets these elections for October 25 and reschedules the rest of the electoral calendar

The vote took place in the middle of a busy parliamentary session and a lot of distrust about the change in dates.

There was also spirited debate once a faction from the right attempted to cancel the vote altogether, ultimately failing in their attempt.

RELATED:
Chile To Postpone Constitutional Referendum Amid Pandemic

It was especially striking when the deputies from Evopoli, Luciano Cruz Coke, Jorge Alessandri, and Juan Antonio Coloma of the UDI party abstained (both pro-Sebastian Piñera parties) because, according to them, there was a technical problem, an error, but ultimately there were no changes.

Finally, the modification to the electoral calendar was approved in general by 109 votes in favor. 

The referendum means to ask the public if they agree to a new constitution to replace the one imposed by Augusto Pinochet. Many blame this constitution as the root of the inequalities in Chile, leading to the ongoing conflict that exploded social justice demands that have dragged over for the last 30 years, and which ignited huge protests in October of 2019. 

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