Gabriel Boric, the president of Chile, in an image of last June 9. Jae C. Hong (AP)
President Gabriel Boric announced this Friday that his government will promote a new constitutional process if the citizens reject the proposal for the new Constitution in the plebiscite on September 4.
The president, in an interview on
Chilevisión
, assured that, through Parliament, they would seek to convene a vote again so that Chileans elect the members of a second Constituent Convention, those in charge of drafting the Fundamental Charter.
This proposal, which is not part of the current political agreement, "is the path that Chile decided to take when it voted on October 25 [2020] in a plebiscite for a new Constitution that is drafted by a 100% elected body for that purpose." .
In the plebiscite, with a mandatory vote and a binding result, more than 15 million Chileans will decide whether to approve or reject the text written for a year by 154 conventional elected by the citizens.
If the Approval
wins
, the new Fundamental Charter would come into force, the first in the history of Chile discussed in a democracy;
if the Rejection
wins
, the Constitution drawn up in 1980 by the Pinochet dictatorship will be maintained, which, although it has been modified on numerous occasions, lacks legitimacy.
The polls reveal a victory for the
Rejection
with close to 54% of the votes.
One of the debates is what path Chile will follow the day after the referendum.
The right and part of the center-left lead a campaign under the slogan "Reject to reform" -the current Magna Carta-;
the progressive majority postulates "approve to form" the new text from Congress.
The Executive has repeatedly defended the legitimacy of the two options, while at the same time endorsing the constitutional proposal presented to the president and the citizens on July 4.
“There is a transversal agreement today that the Constitution we have does not represent a social agreement in Chile.
Do you have to make modifications?
Yes. What I invite each one to ask and answer in good faith is in what scenario is it more feasible to carry them out, ”President Boric raised this Friday.
“If the Rejection
alternative wins ,
we will have to prolong this process for another year and a half, where everything will have to be discussed again, from scratch,” he added.
The proposed new Constitution declares Chile as "a social and democratic State of law", "plurinational, intercultural, regional and ecological" with an "inclusive and parity" democracy.
Among the most controversial articles is the end of the Senate -which would be replaced by a Chamber of the Regions-, the end of the Judicial System, and the consecration of "legal pluralism".
Boric assured that the document requires modifications “without a doubt”.
“I would like us to have a broad agreement regarding things that need to be modified.
For example, the issue of justice systems, versus Judicial Power”, he pointed out.
The text that will be plebiscite in less than two months is the result of a process that began with the social outbreak of October 2019, during the government of Sebastián Piñera.
To provide an institutional solution to the crisis, most of the political parties agreed to call a referendum to decide whether to change the Constitution.
78.3% voted in favor and 21.7% against.
A similar percentage supported that the new document be drafted by elected citizens, without the participation of congressmen.
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