The election of the Constituent Assembly in Chile never ceases to deliver its share of surprises. A world first, the Assembly responsible for drafting a new Constitution, whose 155 members were elected on May 15 and 16, is fully parity, except for one seat. Several months before the ballot, in March 2020, feminist organizations had obtained the registration of this rule, also applied to candidates: each list, established by ideological affinity and district, had to include as many men as women, in order to guarantee a strictly equal electoral offer, the results of which would eventually be rebalanced. These were ultimately in favor of men: in total, 11 elected women had to cede a seat to a man and five men to a woman, according to the Observatory of the New Constitution, a study center analyzing the constitutional process.
“This is parity. Moreover, it is preferable to use the word “to integrate” at “give in”. There was never any question of overrepresenting women, the parity of this election remains the greatest democratic advance in recent years in Chile ”, believes Pamela Figueroa, political scientist and coordinator of the Observatory of the new Constitution. The change in the seventeen seats reserved for indigenous populations, a sort of election within the election, is particularly striking: four elected women have left their seats to one man. By virtue of these same correction mechanisms, the additional seat in the Assembly goes to a man: they are 78 for 77 women.
“Parity is not an additional helping hand for women but the principle of equality”, corroborates Catherine Reyes-Housholder, researcher at the Center for Conflict and Social Cohesion Studies (COES) and specialist in gender issues in politics. “Studies show that without a parity law, parties tend to nominate more male candidates, assuming that citizens prefer this kind of profile. However, we see, with this election, that if the offer is equal, citizens vote as much or more for female candidates who are just as competitive ”, analyzes the researcher.
“Political renewal”
Another surprise of the ballot: the great victory of the independent candidates, on the whole marked on the left. In detail, women were preferred to men on these lists, according to the Observatory of the new Constitution. “Women are more the embodiment of political renewal”, M analysisme Figueroa. In the run-up to the ballot, many female candidates clearly claimed their feminism, also a first for a campaign. “Going home and finding a safe home (without gender violence) is common sense”, thus proclaims, in her campaign spot, Giovanna Roa Cadín, one of the candidates elected on a leftist list, wearing a green scarf tied at the wrist, symbol of the fight for the legalization of abortion.
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