The keys to understanding Chile’s constitutional process

More than 15 million Chilean men and women will be called to the polls this Sunday to vote on the new constitution in an unprecedented process to replace the process that took place in 1980 during the dictatorship and that this could spell the end of the neoliberal system that has ruled his country for nearly half a century.

These are the keys to understanding a process that started almost three years ago amid a wave of protests and that has sparked the world’s interest in its nature unique and revolutionaryand for its potential impact in other countries.

1. The new text is the result of the work of a democratically elected Joint Constituent Convention following the agreement signed on November 15, 2019 in Parliament between the government, several opposition parties and individual deputies such as Gabriel Boric, the current President of the Republic.

2. The agreement, reached after a month of peaceful street demonstrations, extreme violence and brutal police repression, included holding a plebiscite that will be mandatory for all citizens of legal age for the first time in Chile’s history, without the need for prior registration in a pattern.

Pioneer Constituent Process

3. On October 25, 2020, in the midst of a pandemic, citizens were called to the polls for the first time by the government of conservative President Sebastián Piñera to decide whether to amend the current constitution, written in 1980 by the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1989) and partially reformed in 2005 under the Socialist President Ricardo Lagos.

4. 78% of the votes were positive in a consultation in which only 50% of the population took part, which also decided that the new text would be drafted by an “ad hoc” convention that was also chosen in the polls.

5. In May 2021, they returned to the polls to elect the 155 members of the convention who should be joint and which should also reserve 17 seats for indigenous peoples, who represent about 13% of the Chilean people.

6. Later, on July 4, 2021, the convention began to complete the unfinished project launched by the government of Lagos and to carry out a wish that President Michelle Bachelet (2014-2018) had also promoted.

7. The Constituent Assembly met the nine-month deadline, extendable to one year, to present a draft constitutional text, despite the controversies, noise and criticism from the right, which barely achieved representation among the electorate.

8. On July 4 of this year, the draft was handed over to the President of the Republic, who immediately called the plebiscite.

An ecological, social and feminist state

9. The text to be put to the vote on Sunday buries the neoliberal system that has ruled Chile since the dictatorship and moves towards a social rule of law with a greater public presence.

10. Considered the most feminist constitution in the world, it declares the “ecological state” as a pillar, with a determined commitment to defending the environment and a vocation to fight the climate crisis.

11. Towards a universal basic health system, strengthening public education and a public pension system.

12. Advocates ending the privatization of essential resources such as water and facilitating access to housing and other achievements of equal rights and social justice.

13. Includes the definition of Chile as a plurinational state, recognizes the rights of indigenous peoples and indigenous justice, which are some of the points most opposed by proponents of rejection.

14. Modifies the presidential powers, eliminates the Senate and proposes an asymmetric system with the creation of a Chamber of the Regions seeking decentralization.

15. The text for consultation has 388 articles and 57 temporary standards, which, if approved, will be one of the largest constitutions in the world.

Insecurity

16. Polls held two weeks ago, before the ban on publishing polls, pointed to a “rejection win” by 10 to six points.

17. However, experts warn that the outcome is uncertain, as there are no precedents for a similar vote in Chile in recent times.

18. Voting is mandatory for the first time without registration, a condition that will lead to a large number of voters going to the polls for the first time, either because they have just reached the age of majority or because they were not used to running in presidential and parliamentary elections or because they want to avoid fines.

19. About half a million foreign citizens will also participate in the plebiscite, the trend of which is also unknown.

What will happen next?

20. Regardless of the outcome, there appears to be a consensus among proponents of approval and rejection that the constitutional process in Chile will continue beyond September 4, either to specify and develop the new constitution or to write a new one. in case the option of doesn’t win.

21. There is also a difference in how you approach each of the options the day after the consultation.

22. On August 10, in the middle of the campaign, the parties of the governing alliance (the ruling party) signed an agreement to commit themselves to make the necessary changes and to coordinate the development of the necessary laws to implement the new text. to suit.

23. In the event that the rejection wins, President Boric and the approval parties indicate that a new constitutional convention should be elected to discuss a new text to meet the will of the citizens at the ballot box, which according to the electoral service, 125 days must pass first.

24. However, the supporters of the no, led by the right-wing parties, prefer that a select committee of experts and with the intervention of Congress should draft the new text, an option for which they have no stated deadlines or They have a document signed that commits them.

25. A month before the plebiscite, Congress passed a reform that reduced the quorum needed to amend the current constitution to four-sevenths.