The 50 councilors who will write a new constitution for Chile were officially proclaimed on Monday by the Elections Qualifying Tribunal in a symbolic ceremony with the presence of President Gabriel Boric. Among them, there is a majority of ultra-rightists who refused to change the current magna carta, imposed by the military in 1981.
The majority of Chileans voted in 2020 to change the constitution, but the first process to prepare the new constitutional text failed last September, when 62% of the electorate rejected in a plebiscite the refounding project prepared by a leftist convention.
The second draft constitution will go to a plebiscite on December 17, a new examination at the polls regarding which the Chilean president, Gabriel Boric, ruled the day before. In a televised interview, the president spoke of a possible new popular rejection of the text and said that “it would be a failure for the country, because it would leave open a process that generates uncertainty.” He pointed out that there would not be a third attempt during his management.
For this second initiative, as for the first, the editors were democratically elected. However, this time, the entire process will be based on 12 constitutional bases that must be contained in the final text. The constitutional advisers or proclaimed editors will begin their work next Wednesday and will have five months, until November 7.
The Constitutional Council will work on a draft prepared by a commission of 24 experts appointed by the political parties and approved by Congress. This draft was framed in 12 constitutional bases elaborated by the political parties, among which is that Chile is a social democratic State of rights, the principle of separation of powers and the existence of a bicameral Congress.
The second draft constitution will be put to the vote on December 17.
Of the 51 councilors elected on May 7, the electoral court proclaimed 50, because one of them, a militant of the far-right Republican Party, resigned after learning that he was convicted of indecent offenses. He will not be replaced because he is not contemplated in the law.
Since its creation in 2019, Republicans have opposed replacing the constitution with the military.
Paradoxically, after the first constitutional draft was drafted by mostly left-wing conventionalists, the second will be written by a majority of advisors from the far-right Republican Party, which won 22 of the 50 seats. The traditional right was left with 11 seats, making the most conservative sector of the country its 33 editors.
Meanwhile, the left closest to Boric won 16 seats, while the center-left was left out by not getting space. In addition, there is an indigenous counselor.
Arturo Squella, president of the Republican Party, believes that in the preliminary draft of the commission of experts there are “clear challenges in terms of the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms” and that there are spaces to advance “significantly” in matters such as decentralization and modernization of the State.
“If you make me compare the text of the commission of experts with the current constitution, I’ll stick with the constitution that exists today,” he remarked. The party has indicated that they participated in the constitutional process “to avoid a refounding text” like the one rejected in September.
Squella also emphasized that the Republican advisers will work “to improve the proposal in all aspects” to arrive with a “good project” by December. However, they have not publicly explained all the changes they will seek to introduce.
The constitution of the military, in force since March 1981, has undergone dozens of reforms, the majority in 2005, but it continues to carry the weight of having been born under a dictatorship.
The proclamation ceremony was attended by 37 drafters out of a total of 50, who were given a copy of the court’s proclamation judgment. Those from regions will move to the Chilean capital, where the drafting body will work. President Boric and the Legislative authorities also received a copy of the proclamation.