The Chile’s constitutional assembly, that has been tasked to draft a new constitution, elected a new president on January 5, 2022.

Highlights

• After nine rounds of voting, members of the constitutional assembly elected epidemiologist Maria Elisa Quinteros as President.
• She will replace the body’s inaugural president Elisa Loncon.
• This change was provided for in the texts of 155-member body, elected in 2021 for drafting the text to replace Chile’s previous Magna Carta.
• Quinteros received 78 votes needed to replace Loncon in the post.
• Her victory was welcomed by Chile’s newly elected next president, Gabriel Boric.

Drafting new constitution

The constitutional assembly has been given nine months, with a possible three-month extension, for drafting the new constitution. After this, it must go to a referendum, which will be set up by Boric’s government, which is due to take office on March 11, 2022.

Boric’s Government

President-elect of Chile is Gabriel Boric. He is a 35-year-old former student movement leader. He was elected in December 2021. He defeated far-right candidate Jose Antonio Kast by 11 percentage points. He will be Chile’s youngest president.