First modification:
In the Chilean Congress, several political parties advanced this Monday in dialogues that led to various agreements to achieve a new constituent, after the resounding loss at the polls that sank the one written by the previous one, arising from the 2019 protests. 67% of Chileans, according to a published survey, want to change the current Magna Carta, which dates from the Pinochet dictatorship.
Negotiations are advancing to draft a new Constitution in Chile, after the failure of the proposal put to the vote on September 4, which was rejected with 62% of the votes in a mandatory day at the polls.
Different political forces in the Chilean Congress reached several agreements on Monday, which include that the new Constitution be drafted, like the previous one, by a joint body elected by popular vote and that it be approved in a plebiscite where suffrage is mandatory.
In addition, it is expected that this body that will draft the new Magna Carta will be accompanied by a committee of experts, according to the radio University of Chile.
The president of the Senate, Álvaro Elizalde, affirmed that there are “significant advances in the dialogue that has taken place this morning and that show the sense of responsibility with which it is being assumed”.
For his part, Raúl Soto, president of the Chamber of Deputies, said that “progress was being made steadily, without haste, but without pause, as we have said, and hopefully before September 18 we will have good news,” and He added that “we have been putting our differences aside and bringing our positions closer together because we want to give the country certainty about the path ahead in this new process.”
High citizen support for the option of a new Constitution
According to the Cadem survey published this Monday, 67% of Chileans want a new Constitution to replace the neoliberal one dating from the Pinochet dictatorship.
The survey also indicated that 48% of the population supports a mixed convention, in which there are citizens elected at the polls and a committee of experts that is appointed by Congress. 27% want it to be a constituent elected entirely by citizen vote and 20% by Congress.
Elizalde stated that there are still issues to be defined, such as the participation of all groups, such as indigenous and independent peoples.
For his part, Soto said that “the deadlines, the rules of operation of this body, the electoral system on which its members are going to be elected, the name of the body, the regulations that are going to be proposed for its operation are things that they are going to be left for” negotiation in Congress.
Ana Lya Uriarte, Secretary of the Presidency, who is in charge of relations between the Legislature and the Executive, said that there is much hope with what has been advanced so far and added that the Government of President Gabriel Boric does not intend to “impose” or set guidelines. “We have high hopes in the process that is taking place and of course we reiterate what we have stated, we want our country to have a new Constitution that puts an end to the uncertainty of citizens.”
These negotiations were even attended by the extreme right-wing Republican Party, which wants to leave the current Constitution in operation and at most make some changes.
With EFE and local media
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