• 1973
  • 1974
  • 1980
  • 1981
  • 1988
  • 07/1989
  • 12/1989
  • 1990
  • 1991/2012

  • September 11, 1973
     
    General Augusto Pinochet stages coup d’état against democratically elected government of Salvador Allende

     
    > Congress shut down
    > Political parties outlawed
    > Voter registration lists destroyed
    > 1925 constitution suspended

  • June 17, 1974
    Decree-Law 527

     
    > Military Junta to exercise legislative power and Pinochet the presidency

  • September 11, 1980
    Plebiscite, without voter lists, approves Pinochet Constitution

     
    > 67,04% vote "Yes"
    > 30,19% vote "No"

  • March 11, 1981
    Pinochet Constitution goes into effect; still in force today

     
    > National Security Council made up of president, military commanders, presidents of Senate and Supreme Court of Justice
    > Designated and lifetime senators
    > Presidential runoff elections
    > Binomial system: two seats per district; ensures distribution of seats between the two large political forces, excluding smaller parties
    > Pinochet entrenches himself in power up to 1988, with an option for eight more years

  • October 5, 1988
    In plebiscite, voters reject Pinochet’s bid to extend his rule

     
    > 97.5 percent turnout
    > The "No" vote wins with 55.9 percent
    > The "Yes" vote takes 44 percent

  • July 30, 1989
    Plebiscite reforms several aspects of Pinochet Constitution

     
    > Establishes political pluralism
    > Strengthens constitutional rights
    > Restricts declarations of state of emergency
    > Upholds democratic and participative principles

  • December 14, 1989
    First democratic elections since the 1973 coup

     
    > Centre-left opposition Coalition of Parties for Democracy wins, with 55.2 percent of the vote

  • March 11, 1990
    Christian Democrat Patricio Aylwin, the Coalition’s candidate, sworn in as president

     
    > During his transition government, a report reveals that 3,095 people were killed by the dictatorship

  • Successive reforms of the Pinochet Constitution
    1991, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012

     
    > Between 2000 and 2006, lifelong and designated senators are eliminated, such as Pinochet himself, who died in December 2006

    > Blocks put in place by the dictatorship prevent key constitutional changes, such as reforms of the binomial system, which favours the two large blocs – the centre-left Coalition (1990-2010) and the right-wing Coalition for Change, which has governed since 2010

+ -