Chilean President Sebastián Piñera announced on Sunday evening (18) that the election to decide on the formation of the country’s constituent assembly will be postponed to May 15 and 16. The departure date was April 11.
The decision was communicated after a meeting between Piñera, his government’s health council and some ministers at La Moneda Palace, seat of the Chilean government.
The announcement, however, needs to be confirmed by Congress. The request will be sent this Monday morning (29) to parliament. “I ask Congress not to impose restrictions on this change, which is necessary,” the representative said at the end of the statement.
The country is experiencing a rise in the contagion curve which has led the government to adopt containment of more than 16 million people between the metropolitan region of Santiago and other cities. The country has 977,243 cases and 22,754 deaths.
Chile is the country that has vaccinated more quickly and in quantity in South America, becoming a model of vaccination in the region, with almost 40% of the population having already received at least the first dose.
Still, hospitals and health centers are full, and doctors and nurses are calling on the government to take more action to avoid overloading. The arrival of the new variants in the country accelerated the transmissions. And regions like the metropolitan region of Santiago, Puerto Montt, Valdicia, Talca and Temuco have recorded more deaths from the coronavirus this year than in all of 2020.
“The vaccines are effective and will have an effect on the mortality curve, but we must continue with caution and continue to vaccinate. The delay will allow us to vaccinate more Chileans and further protect society so that the election is possible with the maximum security, ”said Piñera.
The President also said: “It was a very difficult decision, but we have to take it and we are fully convinced that it is the best for Chile and for the Chileans”.