Chileans will vote on Sunday on whether to adopt a new constitution and move from a market-based society to a more welfare-based one.

The proposed draft aims to replace the current constitution, drafted during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990), which despite successive reforms is still seen as an obstacle to fundamental societal change.

Education, health care and pensions are still in the hands of the private sector.

But although an overwhelming majority of Chileans – almost four-fifths – had previously voted in favor of a revised constitution, opinion polls suggest the new document will be rejected.

But voters’ biggest concern is the importance given to the country’s indigenous peoples, who make up nearly 13 percent of the country’s 19 million population.

Proposals to legalize abortion and protect the environment and natural resources such as water, which are now often overexploited by private mining companies, have also attracted a lot of attention.

The thought of a new constitution aimed at de-privatizing certain key sectors has sparked fears in many people.

“I don’t want to be a second Venezuela; we have a lot to lose,” Patricio Gutierrez, 40, an engineer at a multinational mining company, told AFP.

Like many others, he fears that the new constitution would create instability and uncertainty that could harm the economy.

“Social reforms are necessary but do not change the rules in a country that is doing well,” Gutierrez added.

However, around 40 world-renowned economists and political scientists have expressed their support for the new project.

Supporters of the new constitution say it will bring about big changes in a conservative country marred by social and ethnic tensions and lay the foundation for a more egalitarian country.

Anadriel Hernandez, 18, a first-time voter, expects the new constitution to “change Chile, maybe not overnight because that would be impossible, but you always have to start somewhere.”

One of the main reasons for the new constitution was the outbreak of massive social unrest in 2019, initially in response to an increase in subway fares. But it grew into calls for more social justice in a country that had been economically strong for years but widening inequality.

Many blamed the constitution, which gave private enterprise free rein over key industries and created fertile soil for the rich to prosper and the poor to struggle.

Although the constitution has been reformed several times since it was introduced in 1980, it retains the stigma of having been introduced during a dictatorship.

But Luz Galarce, 53, who teaches young children, said she will vote no because the idea of ??rewriting the constitution “came from a moment of great crisis in our country, it wasn’t an objective decision”.

About 15 million people will go to the polls in a forced election.

Having already voted to rewrite the constitution and then elected MPs to do so, Chileans will go to the polls on the issue for the third time in two years.

The new text was drafted by a constitutional commission composed of 154 members – mostly without political affiliations – split equally between men and women, with 17 places reserved for indigenous people.

The resulting proposal recognizes 11 indigenous peoples and offers them greater autonomy, particularly in relation to the judiciary.

It is the most controversial clause, with some critics accusing the authors of attempting to transform traditionally marginalized tribal peoples into a higher class of citizens.

“Most likely, the negative vote will win, and whether that changes will depend on the number of people who vote and who vote,” political scientist Marcelo Mella told AFP.

If approved, the Chilean Congress will begin deciding how to apply the new laws. If the new text is rejected, the previous constitution will remain in place.

If that happens, the simmering unrest that has gripped the nation for three years could boil over again.