Chilean national plebiscite, 1988

1988 Chilean national plebiscite
For information about the options, see below
Results Votes  % Yes 3,119,110 7001440100000000000♠44.01% No 3,967,569 7001559900000000000♠55.99% Valid votes 7,086,679 7001977200000000000♠97.72% Invalid or blank votes 165,254 7000227990000099999♠2.28% Total votes 7,251,933 100.00% Registered voters/turnout 7,435,913 7001975300000000000♠97.53%

The 1988 Chilean national plebiscite was a national referendum held on 5 October 1988 to determine whether Chile's President, Augusto Pinochet, should extend his rule for another eight years. The "No" side won with nearly 56% of the vote, thus ending the General's 16½ years in power.

The fact the dictatorship respected the results is attributed to pressure from the big business, the international community and unease with extended Pinochet-rule within the dictatorship.

Army General Augusto Pinochet took power on 11 September 1973 in a coup d'état which deposed the democratically elected Socialist President Salvador Allende. Allende killed himself as the presidential palace was being bombarded. A military junta — led by Pinochet, Air Force General Gustavo Leigh, Navy Admiral José Toribio Merino, and Carabinero Chief General César Mendoza — was sworn in the same evening. The following day, the four drafted an official document suspending the 1925 constitution and Congress and establishing the Junta as the country's supreme authority. Pinochet was designated as its first President, and the four verbally agreed to rotate the office. Shortly after, the Junta established an advisory committee, which Pinochet was successful in staffing with Army officers loyal to himself. One of their first recommendations was to discard the idea of a rotating Presidency, arguing it would create too many administrative problems and lead to confusion. In March 1974, six months after the Junta’s establishment, Pinochet verbally attacked the Christian Democratic Party and stated that there was no set timetable for a return to civilian rule. On 18 December 1974 Pinochet was declared Supreme Leader of the nation. After that date, the junta functioned strictly as a legislative body until the return to democracy in 1990.

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