domingo, febrero 9

Ireland rejects constitutional changes, maintains ‘housewives’ language

Irish voters have rejected two proposed changes to the country’s constitution that would have removed references to the duties of housewives and broadened the definition of family beyond marriage, dealing a blow to the government that analysts say , suggested the weakness of their campaign to pass the law. proposals.

After a series of referendums in recent years reshaped the Irish Constitution to reflect the country’s more secular and liberal modern identity, the result came as a surprise to some, including the government. But analysts say that rather than signaling a retreat from those values, the results reflect a confusing and disjointed campaign that left many voters reluctant to vote yes.

Each proposal was largely rejected, according to results announced Saturday, an unexpected defeat for equality campaigners and the coalition government of Leo Varadkar, the taoiseach or prime minister.

Although all of the country’s major political parties supported both proposals, some critics said the proposed clauses did not go far enough, while others criticized the wording as too broad.

Mr Varadkar, speaking on Saturday after the votes were counted, said the defeat was clear.

“As head of government and on behalf of the government, we accept responsibility for the result,” he said. “It was our responsibility to convince the majority of people to vote ‘yes,’ and we clearly did not succeed. »

Irish citizens went to the polls on Friday, International Women’s Day, to vote in two referendums aimed at amending the country’s 87-year-old Constitution, written at a time when the influence of the Roman Catholic Church over many aspects of life in Ireland was immense.

Supporters viewed the proposed amendments as essential to ensuring that the Constitution reflected the country’s more secular and liberal modern identity. But many voted “no” on both referendum questions.

Analysts and politicians say the results are more complex than a simple rejection of the proposed changes. A lower-than-expected turnout and muddled messaging from the «Yes» campaign may have contributed to the proposals’ failure, they said.

However, 44 percent of the population went to the polls, 67.7 percent of voters rejected the changes on the family issue and 73.93 percent on the care issue, according to official results.

Laura Cahillane, an associate professor at the University of Limerick Law School, who has written about the confusion around referendums, said people were concerned about the wording from the start.

“When people are confused, they are much more likely to vote no and reject change,” Ms Cahillane said in an interview on RTÉ, the public broadcaster, on Saturday evening.

The government must now examine what went wrong, she added, pointing to the long process led by a citizens’ assembly that led to recommendations on the proposals, which were then evaluated by a legislative committee created specifically for this purpose. But some recommendations were ignored and the government introduced its own wording.

Opposition parties and others warned that the language was confusing, according to Ms. Cahillane, and the government and political parties did little campaigning to gain support for the referendums.

“There seemed to be very little interest from the government in listening to people’s concerns about the wording,” she said. “And maybe a certain amount of arrogance in that they thought people could get caught up in a wave of feminism on International Women’s Day and just pass these two referendums.”

The first referendum question voters were asked to consider was whether to amend Article 41 of the Constitution to introduce a broader concept of the family. The proposed language would have recognized the family, «whether based on marriage or other enduring relationships, as the primary and fundamental natural unit of society» and would have eliminated another clause.

The second question concerned section 41.2, which equality activists and women’s rights groups have opposed for decades. This article says that the State «recognizes that through her life within the home, women provide to the State a support without which the common good cannot be achieved» and that the State «shall endeavor to ensure that mothers are not obliged by economic necessity.” engage in work to the detriment of their domestic duties.

The public voted against replacing this language with a new section recognizing all family caregivers. The proposed article stated: «The State recognizes that the provision of care by the members of a family to one another by reason of the bonds which exist between them, gives to society a support without which the common good cannot be achieved, and must endeavor to support such provision.

Some opponents of the amendments had argued that the proposed wording regarding “enduring relationships” was too broad. Others said the caregiving provisions did not go far enough to require the state to protect caregivers, regardless of gender.

The retention of Article 41.2, particularly the «home life» clause, was met with disappointment by women’s rights groups who had long campaigned for its removal on the grounds that it was ‘a relic of a patriarchal past.

The National Council of Women of Ireland, a charity which promotes women’s rights and equality and which campaigned for the proposals, issued a statement expressing its «deep disappointment» over the ‘No’ vote. The charity said that «while the reasons for this are complex, the result is a clear wake-up call: we cannot rest on our laurels when it comes to equality and women’s rights.»

Even before the Constitution was first ratified in 1937, some women had demonstrated against the introduction of the language, and this year the National Council of Women of Ireland recreated their protest outside government buildings.

Over the past few decades, the Irish population has undergone a series of significant changes that have pushed back against socially conservative policies. In 1995, Ireland voted to end the divorce ban and a referendum in 2019 further liberalized divorce laws. In 2015, the country voted to legalize same-sex marriage, and in 2018 a referendum repealed the amendment banning abortion.

The latest referendums were called after a citizens’ assembly in 2020 and 2021 on gender equality which made a series of recommendations, including changes to the Constitution.

Michael McDowell, lawyer and independent member of the Seanad, the upper house of the Irish Parliament, and former deputy head of government, had campaigned for the “no”.

“The government misjudged the mood of voters and presented them with proposals that they did not explain, proposals that could have serious consequences,” he told RTÉ.