Pensions and cannabis, popular proposals to be debated by the Chilean Constituent Assembly

Protecting pension funds, defending private freedom and legalizing cannabis are the three popular initiatives that received the most support among citizens and that should be discussed by the convention in charge of drafting a new Constitution in Chile.

There are at least 64 rule proposals that obtained the 15,000 signatures necessary to be included in the constitutional debate in the coming months.

“Each and every one of the popular initiatives will be analyzed, discussed and voted on, just like the initiatives presented by the conventional ones themselves”, assured the vice president of the body, the independent Gaspar Dominguez.

Leading the proposals with about 57,000 signatures collected from December to this Tuesday, the date on which the term closes, “Not with my money. Defend your pension savings” seeks to protect private pension funds against reforms that seek to turn from the current model of individual capitalization to another of pay-as-you-go.

follow him “Free right of private property” (around 43,900 signatures) and “Cannabis to the Constitution now: for the right to free development of personality, personal sovereignty and well-being”, with more than 42,300.

The right to free abortion and the shielding of the autonomy of the Central Bank of Chile complete the ranking of the five proposals with the most support.

“Citizen participation is and will be the center of the new Constitution”, indicated on Twitter the also independent Benito Baranda.

Among the most striking proposals, one stands out, for example, that defends that animals “they are not furniture”, another who wants”prison for (President Sebastián) Piñera” or another that proclaims the “right to be a fan”.

The new text, which must be ready in mid-2022 to be voted on in a plebiscite, will replace the current one, inherited from the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990) and considered by many to be the origin of the great inequalities in the country.

Although it was reformed more than 50 times in democracy, the current Magna Carta was inspired by the so-called “Chicago Boys”, a group of ultraliberal economists disciples of Milton Friedman and that promoted the privatization of services such as water, pensions and health.

A large part of the 155 members of the convention -the first joint in the world and with a progressive majority- see in the constituent process an opportunity to change the current subsidiary role of the State and guarantee more social rights, a vision that is also shared by the president-elect, Gabriel Boric.