Elections in Chile: in a crucial test for his government, Boric spoke of "reconciliation" and asked to vote "without fear"

The president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, said this Sunday that the country has

and that he hopes that the people vote "informed" and "without fear" in the constituent elections this Sunday, marked by the lack of information and fed up with the political class.

are elected

, which must then be approved or rejected in December of this year.

"As a country, we have a historic opportunity to reconcile, after the fractures we have experienced, and move towards a

country , where no one is left behind," said Boric, after casting the ballot in his native Punta Arenas, in the south end.

The ruler, who will now travel to Santiago to follow the voting process from the La Moneda palace, assured that both the Government and the political parties that support it will respect "to the letter" the results of these constituent elections, the second in two years.

"Whatever the result, the election of the new councilors represents

, where we have been able to reach an agreement to give continuity to a process that has not been easy," he added.

More than 15.1 million citizens choose this Sunday the 50 councilors who will draft a second Constitution proposal, after the failure of the first text in the plebiscite last September.

Unlike the effervescence of the previous process, these elections are marked by

.

Electoral fatigue -since the 2019 protests, Chile has held seven elections-, the failure of the previous process and the unprecedented security crisis that the country is going through explain, according to experts, the disaffection towards these elections.

The former student leader called for the elections not to be "a short-term political fight or a fight between politicians" and urged "to think not about the next election, but about the next generation."

"I trust the wisdom of the Chilean people and I hope that people vote informed, without fear," he added.

Although it is difficult to make forecasts due to the great apathy and because voting is compulsory - unlike two years ago - there is a consensus that the correlation of forces will be very different from the previous constituent convention, dominated by the left.

The right and the extreme right are the great favorites and the key is whether they will get enough seats (30 or more) to approve the constitutional norms without the need to negotiate.

"In our recent history there has been an important lesson about what happens when we entrench ourselves, when those who legitimately think differently and do not talk to each other. Today we have the opportunity to do it in a different way," the president acknowledged.

"Let's generate a debate in which legitimate differences arise, but always keeping our people ahead. This time there is no margin for error," he concluded.

With information from EFE

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