Chileans are not convinced to approve a new Constitution – surveys

By Maolis Castro

The new constituent process fails to attract the majority of Chileans’ attention.

According to the latest Pulso Ciudadano survey conducted by the consulting firm Activa, 40.1% of respondents said they were not at all or not very interested in the drafting of a proposed Constitution; 26.7% were moderately interested, and only 33.1% said they were very interested.

Compared to the previous version of the survey, there is an increase in the percentage of those interested and a decrease in those not interested.

This change occurred after the elections of constitutional councilors last May 7, where the right-wing obtained a majority of votes.

The Constitutional Council, composed of 50 members, must draft a new Magna Carta proposal from June 7, which will be submitted to a referendum with a mandatory vote in December.

A Committee of Experts is still working on a preliminary draft.

Chile started a new constituent process this year after voters rejected a proposal written by conventional voters in the referendum of September 4, 2022.

WHO TO VOTE FOR IN THE DECEMBER REFERENDUM?

Activa’s survey indicates that 55.1% feel little or no confidence in the new constituent process.

And, for the moment, 53.6% do not know whether they will vote in the December referendum for or against a new Constitution, which would bury the one drafted during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet and modified several times in democracy.

It also indicates that 47% would agree with changing the current Constitution, compared to 29% who do not favor any option and 23.4% who disagree.

On the other hand, another survey published this Sunday by Cadem indicates that 46% would vote against a new text, which means 10 points more than two weeks ago.

In this case, the undecided would be 20%, and 34% are convinced of approving the proposed Fundamental Charter.

WHAT WORRIES CHILEANS TODAY?

The same Pulso Ciudadano survey indicates that Chileans believe that the main problems perceived by Chileans are crime (49.2%), inflation (38.7%), immigration (25.5%), drug trafficking (18.9%), health (18.1%) and unemployment (17.7%).

Rising living costs rank second compared to previous surveys, even though prices have decreased recently.

In April, the annual consumer price index (CPI) returned to single digits after 13 months above 10%.

The Central Bank of Chile expects inflation to return to its 3% target only during 2024.

Unemployment is also considered one of the country’s main problems.

The unemployment rate reached 8.8% in March in Chile, and a Bloomberg survey expects it to grow and reach 8.9% in April.

The data will be released by the National Institute of Statistics this Tuesday.

With information from Bloomberg

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