The president of the Communist Party said that if Apruebo wins the Sept. 4 plebiscite, people should go out to the streets to “defend” the result. He accused the Electoral Service of manipulating past elections. The statement did not go over well.
A controversial declaration from the president of the Communist Party Guillermo Teillier resurfaced on Aug. 31 as Ex-Ante published an article citing what the politician said in Radio Nuevo Mundo on Sunday, Aug. 28. Teillier made a call for Apruebo supporters to defend a possible triumph on the constitutional plebiscite.
“If the Apruebo wins with a short gap, the right will surely try to question the result. They would make any move, like the ones already done in front of the Electoral Service or when they went to the Comptroller to say there was fraud, or anything just to try to stop the installation of a new Constitution,” Teillier said.
He continued by saying that the people should “get out to the street to defend that triumph [in case of an Abruebo victory].” Soon after the Ex-Ante publication, members from diverse political parties condemned Teillier’s words. Felipe Harboe (PPD), Sergio Bobadilla (UDI), Pepe Auth (independant), Mario Desbordes (RN), among others issued statements criticizing his attitude.
Andrés Tagle, president of the Electoral Service qualified the words of Teillier as “unnecessary” in an interview with EmolTV. He clarified that the place to fight for the votes are the Electoral Court and the polling stations.
On the morning of Sept. 1, the Communist published a declaration on Twitter further explaining himself. “The Apruebo will win, and it could be a narrow victory, that’s why I called to celebrate and defend. With characters like [Gonzalo] de la Carrera in the Rechazo, we have to be cautious. I have said and I reaffirm: the best for Chile is to move forward with the new Constitution in a peaceful way.”
Catalina Vergara is graduated in Social Communications from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. She has previously worked on Strategic Communications.