Chile opens another process to leave behind the Pinochet Constitution

Chile began this Wednesday a new process to replace the Constitution drafted during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990); the third effort in five years to leave behind one of the main legacies of that period whose wounds are still open.

The law that enables the constitutional change was approved by the Chilean Congress this Wednesday after 61% of the electorate rejected on September 4 a project prepared by a 100% elected convention.

After that processthe main political forces (…) converged on the idea that it is necessary to find a new Constitution, which is not the one of constitutional convention, but that a different one than the one of 1980 is needed″, explained to AFP the lawyer Claudia Sarmiento.

The attempt to change the Constitution promulgated by Pinochet and which has undergone dozens of reforms since the return to democracy, had a decisive boost after the violent protests that broke out on October 18, 2019.

“atypical” process

The new attempt at reforms is very different from the previous one, mixing elected and appointed bodies. It also marks a difference compared to the failed attempt carried out by the socialist Michelle Bachelet during her second term (2014-2018), through self-convened councils.

“It is a mixed process; very atypical as a general rule, because it mixes what is an elected body, with designated bodies. (…) Here we have an atypical model that is not replicated in other parts of the world but that responds to the political and current situation in Chile”, affirms on his side the constitutional lawyer Tomás Jordán.

Unlike the previous attempt, where the draft was drawn up by a parity convention of 154 members elected by popular vote and with indigenous reserved quotas, this new bet has three bodies; one of them elected by popular vote.

Chileans will elect a 50-member Constitutional Council on May 7. But there will also be two instances appointed by Congress, whose composition has been questioned by critics of this project.

The Commission of Experts will write a draft that will be discussed in the elected body and the Admissibility Technical Committee that will guarantee that the articles do not contravene the so-called “Fundamental Bases”.

The election of the members of the Constitutional Council will not count this time with lists of independents. The composition of the three bodies, meanwhile, will be equal.

To approve the regulations and the articles, the favorable vote of three fifths of the directors will be required and not the two thirds of the previous process.

“This quite reasonable figure is reached, which generates certain assurances from the legal and political point of view, guarantees for the participation of the National Congress, which will have the mission of electing the Committee of Experts.“, held Sebastian Zarateprofessor at the Autonomous University.

The process should end in December with a ratification plebiscite.

Red lines

The most substantial difference is the 12 “Fundamental Bases”, unchangeable and that must be included in the new Magna Carta, established before the process began: like that Chile is a “democratic Republic” with a “unitary and decentralized” character.

Indigenous peoples are recognized “as part of the Chilean Nation, which is one and indivisible”, which prevents declaring Chile as a “plurinational” state as the rejected project did.

It also establishes the national emblems (flag, shield and anthem), and the existence of three separate powers: Executive, Judicial and Legislative, with a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies. In the rejected proposal the “Justice Systems” were established and the Senate was replaced by a “Chamber of the Regions”.

It also determines the autonomy of the Central Bank and the Comptroller General, among other institutions.

Source: AFP