► Why a new Constitution?
During a historic mobilization in October 2019, the Chilean people expressed their desire to put an end to the Constitution inherited from the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990), considered to be a major obstacle to profound social reforms. Twelve months later, he spoke out overwhelmingly in favor of a new Constitution.
A Constituent Assembly of 154 members, elected in May 2021, had worked on drafting a Constitution. But, during a referendum on September 4, the fruit of a year’s work was rejected by 62% of Chileans.
The project, deemed too ambitious, seemed to shake up Chilean society. Rejected by the right-wing coalition Chile Vamos during a stormy campaign marked by disinformation, the text intended to guarantee citizens a series of rights to education, public health, retirement and decent housing. . It also introduced access to abortion, or the recognition of new rights for indigenous peoples.
► What has happened since the rejection referendum of September 4?
President Gabriel Boric, elected last March, undertook to move forward on a constitutional project, asking the various political forces to agree on the outlines of a new process. This time, unlike the previous project, which started from scratch, right-wing and left-wing parliamentarians managed on Monday 12 December to agree on a series of twelve “constitutional bases” which serve as the basis for the future text.
Among these fundamentals, Chile is recognized as “a democratic republic whose sovereignty resides in the people”. If the notion of plurinationality, contested by part of the Chilean people in the previous version, has disappeared, the indigenous peoples are “recognized as an integral part of the Chilean nation”. Finally, the parliamentarians wanted to set limits, such as not touching the “right to life”.
► How will the new constitutional process work?
The Constituent Assembly is replaced by three complementary entities. From next January, a committee of experts of 24 people appointed by Parliament (12 by the Assembly, 12 by the Senate) will be responsible for drafting a draft Constitution.
These experts will join, in April 2023, a Constitutional Council of 50 representatives elected by the Chilean people, in a ballot with compulsory voting. This Council, which will have to validate the successful draft Constitution, will be gender balanced, and the indigenous peoples will no longer have a guaranteed quota of seats as was the case during the previous attempt at reform.
Finally, a technical admissibility committee, made up of 14 specialists – lawyers and academics selected by Parliament – will be responsible for guaranteeing the legal feasibility of the project, which will then be submitted to the government in October.
The draft new Constitution of Chile will be submitted again to a referendum on November 26, 2023, when the commemorations will have taken place, fifty years later, of the military coup. A way to definitively turn the page on the dictatorship?