Chile, Tomás Hirsch: “The victory of the No vote in the constitutional referendum is a cause for relief”.

The draft constitution drawn up by the right was rejected yesterday with more than 55% of the vote. We have requested Tomas Hirsch, Deputy Hirsch, president of Humanist Action, to comment on the referendum result.

The triumph of the No is the triumph of the people of Chile, who wisely rejected a constitutional proposal that looked more like a government programme of the extreme right than a possible Constitution for our country.

In Chile, we have a bad Constitution, generated during the dictatorship by the generals and their friends, and we have fought for more than 40 years to change it, but it is not a question of changing it just for the sake of it. It would be absurd to go from a bad one to a worse one, and one that was created in a democracy.

The people understood very well that this proposal meant a civilising step backward for the advances achieved over the last decades after long struggles of women, children and adolescents, the LGBTQ+ community, and other sectors of society.

The proposal of the ultra-right meant perpetuating the private health and pension system, jeopardising abortion on three grounds, leaving the poorest communities in the country without resources, allowing the genocidal perpetrators who violated human rights during the dictatorship to go free, and it was also a text that was virtually impossible to modify in the future.

The proposal was rejected, the “Contra” triumphed and we at Acción Humanista supported it with force and with great activity. However, this is not a reason to celebrate, but rather to be relieved, and that is the word most often listened to last night. Relief. Relief for having prevented the installation in Chile of a nefarious model, deepening and perpetuating what we have already lived for so long.

On the other hand, we will honour our commitment. Our votes will not be available to push for a third constitutional process. For now, we will put all our energy into the reforms that are needed to improve the living conditions of Chileans: pension reform, health reform, education reform, the emergency housing plan, and tax reform to provide the resources. And from today we will start to work both in Congress and in the territories to advance these reforms so longed for by the citizens.