Conervatives prevail in key vote for new Chile constitution
A far-right party is leading in the vote count after Chileans cast ballots Sunday for a 50-member commission that is to draft a new coonstitution SANTIAGO, Chile -- A far-right party led in the vote count Sunday night after Chileans cast ballots for a 50-member commission that is to draft a new coonstitution after voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposed charter last year that was considered one of the world’s most progressive. It was a major defeat for Chile’s center-left president, Gabriel Boric, with the vote also widely viewed as a referendum on his government, which currently has an approval rating of around 30%. With 91% of polling stations reporting, the Republican Party, led by far-right José Antonio Kast, who lost the presidential runoff to Boric in 2021, led with 35% of the vote. The Republican Party has long opposed changing the constitution that was imposed by the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet. A coalition of left-leaning parties allied with Boric, Unity for Chile ...