The 51 members of the Constitutional Council in charge of drafting a new proposal for a magna carta in Chile to replace the current one, inherited from the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship (1973-1990), began to take office this Wednesday in a solemn ceremony in which President Gabriel Boric participated.
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“This Council is installed today because we have achieved, traveling a long way, that agreements prevail and also demonstrates our strength as a country because we are capable of putting the common good above individual interests“said the president.
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This is Chile’s second attempt in three years to draft a fundamental law, after 62% of citizens rejected in a plebiscite last September a refoundational constitutional proposal, drawn up by a convention with a majority of the left.
“Citizens expect a collaborative process, where the different parties are capable of giving in when necessary and finding common ground in search of the best for Chile,” said Boric, who concluded his speech by assuring that the country “will do well to close this cycle”.
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Today I participated in the installation ceremony of the Constitutional Council together with its advisors, who assume the task of preparing a new Magna Carta that represents all Chileans.
That is the task our people have entrusted: a new… pic.twitter.com/FnTjUZpKjh
—Gabriel Boric Font (@GabrielBoric) June 7, 2023
The composition of the new body is completely different from the previous one, with the right occupying 23 of the 51 seats, which gives it the power to veto constitutional norms.
The ruling party only got 16 seats in the elections a month ago and the traditional right of Chile Vamos obtained 11 councilors.
(Also read: ‘These have not been easy times’: Boric delivers balance of his presidential term)
The last seat is for a Mapuche activist elected in the quota reserved for indigenous peoples, while the center-left parties that governed during the transition to democracy were left out of the body.
“Let’s fight for the agreement, let’s fight for the peace of the nation. Otherwise, history will not forgive those who get carried away by passions and revenge of the past,” said Miguel Litín, the first counselor to take office and who will chair the body during this first session until a board of directors is elected.
The counselors will have 5 months to prepare a new proposal that will be put to the vote on December 17 and will work on a draft written by a group of experts appointed by Congress, which includes a dozen basic principles to avoid a refoundational proposal, such as the Social State. and democratic of law.
(Keep reading for context: Chile: Commission of Experts completes draft of new Constitution)
The great question lies in whether the right, which defends the neoliberal model installed during the regime and has veto power in the Council, will respect these bases or unite with the traditional right to change them at the root.
Boric himself assured on Sunday on the Chilevisión channel that he would “approve” the text as it is.
The two constituent processes, that of 2022 and the current one, arose after the social outbreak of 2019, the largest protests since the end of the dictatorship, with around thirty deaths and thousands of injuries.
EFE
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