The Chilean Constitutional Convention formally began on Tuesday the debate on the content of the new Magna Carta, which will replace the one inherited from the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, with some issues that have generated controversy in recent weeks.
The creation of a unicameral Congress, the nationalization of mining companies, the suspension of water rights and business titles on indigenous territories are some of the controversial proposals that must be discussed and seek consensus in more than 20 plenary sessions of the organization.
The body, dominated by independents and supporters of leftist movements, was elected last year as a result of a national agreement after the violent social outbreak unleashed in October 2019.
The president of the Constitutional Convention, María Elisa Quinteros, told foreign correspondents on Monday that issues proposed in that “very preliminary” stage have been wrongly reported as truths and definitive proposals of the new text.
“That misinformation clearly has an impact on the work that we are doing and can contribute to the loss of people’s confidence in the process,” he argued.
The issues endorsed in the commissions will have to be debated and the final result or its modifications must be approved by two thirds of the members, equivalent to 103 votes.
“In this period we are going to see what is really going to remain in the proposed Constitution. We finally get to the real facts, to the proposed rules that are going to remain, ”he added.
The final text will have to be approved or rejected in a mandatory referendum. In the midst of the controversy that arose, the most recent private Cadem survey showed that the intention to vote “I approve” of the new Magna Carta fell from 56% to 47%.
Article proposals that are initially approved by the plenary can be submitted to indications or adjustments for their subsequent final vote.
According to the agreement that gave rise to it, the Convention has a maximum term of one year, until the beginning of July, to propose the new text. The exit plebiscite would be in September.
The social protests showed discontent with the free market model that has driven Chile’s development in recent decades but has accentuated inequality. The country is the world’s largest producer of copper.
Source: Gestion
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