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(CNN Spanish) - Most Chilean politicians agreed to change the current Constitution, approved in 1980 under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. If a new magna letter is approved, the current one will be repealed.
Through a plebiscite of two questions planned for next year, Chileans must approve or reject if a new Constitution is drafted, and what type of agency should do so, be it a Constitutional Mixed Convention or a Constitutional Convention.
In the early hours of November 15, the Senate informed of the agreement they reached to write the new Constitution.
These are some of the key points contained in the agreement.
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1. The mechanism
A plebiscite was established to be held in April 2020 that will ask Chileans:
a) Do you want a new Constitution? Approve or Rejection
b) What type of electoral body should write the new Constitution? Joint Constitutional Convention or Constitutional Convention
If a new Constitution is approved, the members of the body that will write the new constitution will be elected.
If the Joint Constitutional Commission is approved, it would add (in equal parts) to citizens and parliamentarians in office. If the Constitutional Commission is elected, the members will be elected solely for this purpose, says the agreement, through universal suffrage under the same criteria that govern the elections to the legislative body.
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2. The functions and terms of the elected
The constituent body has the sole objective of drafting the new Constitution without affecting “the powers and powers of the other organs and powers of the State,” says the agreement.
Nor may it affect the rules, procedures, or quorum for its operation or for reaching agreements.
When it is constituted, it must approve the voting rules and regulations for a quorum of two thirds of its members in office.
The Constituent also has a defined term: in principle, up to nine months of operation and will be renewable for three months only once.
This body will be dissolved once “the task entrusted to it has been completed,” says the agreement.
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3. Approval of the text
After the drafting of the new “Fundamental Letter”, as they refer to the Constitution in the agreement, the full text will be submitted to a new referendum to ratify it, as stated. The vote will be universal and mandatory.
The referendum to ratify the Constitution must be voted 60 days after the text is presented by the constituent body. It cannot be before or after a popular vote.
The new Constitution will govern from the moment of its promulgation and publication once this is done. The 1980 Constitution will be repealed in its entirety.
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