It was a promise. After the broad rejection (62%), by the referendum of September 4, of the draft new Constitution drawn up by an elected Assembly, the Chilean President, Gabriel Boric (left), undertook to set in motion ” as quickly as possible “ writing a new text. But, more than two months later, the negotiations carried out in Congress to draft the roadmap for the new constituent process are dragging on and their outcome remains uncertain.
The government continues to believe in Chileans’ demand for a new Basic Law, as when, in October 2020, 78% of voters voted in favor of replacing the Constitution inherited from the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990). In addition, the current text is accused of hindering possible social reforms. It constitutionalizes the principle of a minimal state, set back from the private sector. The relaunch of the constitutional process also seemed to have a general consensus: a section of the center left and the right campaigned against the text submitted to the vote, with the aim of formulating a “best” version.
But the current negotiations between parties are stumbling over the process of drafting the future draft Constitution – the previous one had been written by a Joint Assembly of 155 elected citizens. This time, the size, method of appointment and composition (with or without experts) of the future Constituent Assembly are still under debate. The right has proposed a reduced Assembly of 50 people elected by constituency, on the basis of the senatorial voting system. “This would favor its representation, with more elected representatives from rural areas, traditionally on the right, analysis Felipe Aguero, political scientist at the University of Chile. The presidential coalition, it pushes in the direction of a fully elected Assembly. But the problem is that there is no consensus on this within her, because she also calculates that she would have to lose [à un scrutin aujourd’hui]. »
Also pending is the idea of a so-called “entry” referendum, which would question the Chileans on the methods of appointment and work of the Assembly, or even the representation of the indigenous populations. This last point is sensitive. The seventeen seats (reflecting the 13% of the Chilean population of indigenous origin) which had been reserved for them in the previous Constituent Assembly contributed to enshrining the principle of the country’s plurinationality. It is this subject and its corollary, that of an indigenous justice, which in particular put off many voters.
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