Chile Constitutional Updates (April 11, 2022)
Chilean support for new Constitution declines
Chileans will vote whether to accept the new magna carta drafted by the ongoing Constitutional Convention on Sept. 4, a symbolic date that used to mark presidential elections before the 1973 coup that overthrew Salvador Allende. The Convention's commissions must finish their work by April 18, and some sectors advocate strengthening the attributes of the Harmonization Commission, so that it can propose substantial changes, in addition to highlighting errors and inconsistencies, reports La Bot Constituyente.
Chileans' support for both their new president and the institution rewriting the constitution is fading fast, according to a new Cadem poll: 46 percent of citizens said they would reject the charter based on the information currently available, up ten percentage points from the prior week. By contrast, 40 percent said they would back the document. It was the first Cadem poll showing more people intending to vote against rather than for the new constitution, reports Bloomberg.
Fifty-five percent of respondents do not trust the Constitutional Convention, up from 48 percent the week prior. Conversely, 44 percent said they trusted the institution, down from 51 percent. (BBC) And half of the Cadem respondents said they would support a third option in the plebiscite, that would permit a constitutional reform through Congress, discarding the text from the Constitutional Convention. (Cooperativa)
Chile's constitutional rewrite could fail in a referendum vote in Sept, after opinion polls this week showed for the first time that more Chileans would reject the new text than approve it. That would be a major blow for supporters, including President Gabriel Boric, who hope it will underpin major economic and social reforms, reports Reuters.
Boric called for broader agreements within the convention: "My call is to seek the greatest possible transversality and breadth to build a Constitution that is a meeting point. This implies that space must be given to reflect, so that the agreements are broader than they have been until now," he said last week. (BBC) He expressed hope that the plebiscite could "be a meeting point between Chileans and Chileans."
Fake news is a major issue ahead of the referendum: 58 percent of people have read false information about the new constitution, most on social networks, according to a new poll by Derechos Digitales and Datavoz. The results showed that 6 out of 20 people have shared information on the Constitutional Convention that turned out to be false. In addition to fake news, many citizens are confused by the process of proposals in commissions that aren't necessarily later accepted by the plenary or adopted into the constitutional proposal. (El Mostrador)
Indeed Boric said that the issue is not just external fake news, but communication failures from those who do support the Convention's work. Many involved in the process believe it is also due to information about proposals in evolution, and that support will increase once there is a final text ready and citizens can be informed about the real proposals they will be asked to validate. (Ámbito)
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Chilean civil society organization FIMA looks at the environmental articles included in the proposed text thus far including: one that establishes the duty of the State to adopt actions for prevention, adaptation and mitigation of the effects caused by the climate and ecological crisis; and another that recognizes that Nature has the right to respect and protection of its existence, regeneration, maintenance and restoration of its functions and dynamic equilibrium.
On April 13, the Political Structure Commission will present a new proposal to the plenary for an attenuated presidential system with an asymmetric bicameral congress. (La Bot Constituyente) The proposal would eliminate the Senate. Instead congress would be dominated by the Chamber of Deputies (Diputadas y Diputados, with gender parity) and a Chamber of the Regions that would represent the different territories in the legislative discussion. The Chamber of Deputies would begin and end the legislative discussion, while the territorial chamber could only review and cannot substantially change what has been decided by the deputies, except on some specific matters, reports El País.
Critics have voiced concern that the structure could debilitate legislative checks and balances, by concentrating power in the Chamber of Deputies, reports the BBC. Other critics say the measure would leave about half of the senators in office without finishing their mandates as -- if approved -- the changes would be implemented in 2026.
The attenuated presidential system proposed would maintain the presidency, but eliminates the vice president and the "minister of government." The proposal would limit the president's ability vis a vis congress, eliminating the head of state's exclusive initiative in legislative matters such as spending, the creation of public services or taxes. (El País)
Former president Ricardo Lagos has been among prominent voices who voiced concern over the potential changes to the political system, in particular the elimination of the Senate and changes to the Judicial power. Last week he urged convention delegates to redirect discussions in order to get a better result. (La Tercera, El Mostrador, )
And on April 14, the Justice Commission will present its third report, which includes proposed articles on environmental justice and autonomous organisms. Among the proposals is one that would eliminate the figure of attorney general and replace it with a collegiate body (Superior Council) made up of prosecutors, officials and persons appointed by Congress, while criminal prosecution policy will be defined by a committee made up of the president of the Superior Council and the regional prosecutors. (La Bot Constituyente)
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