Chile Constitutional Updates (April 28, 2022)
Perceptions among Chileans that Chile is on the wrong path rose 18 points between March and April, according to a new Cadem poll. Citizens are increasingly dour on the new constitution, which will be put to plebiscite on Sept. 4. For the fourth consecutive week, the poll found that more respondents would reject the new magna carta than approve it. (CNN)
Experts have cautioned, however, that negative perceptions about the new magna carta could dissipate after the Constitutional Convention finishes drafting the new text. Last week delegates adopted a series of “fundamental rights” into the text of the proposed constitution, including, among others, the right to health care and social security, the right to unionize, strike and collectively bargain and “the right to a dignified and adequate home.” This could counter some criticisms that the convention has failed to tackle the problems underlying broad social unrest that led to the drafting process in the first place, reports La Bot Constituyente.
If the articles approved last week make it to a successful magna carta, it would be the first time positive social rights will be included in the Chilean constitution, writes Nicholas C. Scott in the Washington Post. "The invocation of “dignity” is important and it signals that the vote in the convention forms part of a much longer history of Chileans’ struggle to achieve a dignified life."
Squabbles between the left and right within Chile's Constitutional Convention are wasting precious time rather than moving the draft magna carta into the important “harmonization” phase for reviewing the whole text to ensure its coherence and internal consistency, according to Carlos Cruz Infante and Miguel Zlosilo at the AULA blog.
"The leftist or left-leaning leaders of the Constitutional Convention seem to be underestimating the need to use their document as originally intended by the 2020 plebiscite directing the drafting of a new Constitution: to heal deep splits within Chilean society and build a new consensus based on the highest common ideals of the nation," they write. (AULA blog)
The assembly has until mid-May to approve articles for the draft constitution and until July to have the draft fully completed. Chileans will vote to approve or reject the new constitution on Sept. 4.
Last week, Chile’s lower house rejected dueling proposals for a new round of pension fund withdrawals, a blow to President Gabriel Boric's government that sought to block one plan with an alternative designed to avoid further inflation, reports Bloomberg.
The Boric administration had opposed a bill that would allow a new withdrawal of 10% from pension funds, saying it would pump too much money into an economy already struggling with spiraling inflation. Instead, the government proposed a separate bill that would allow withdrawals only to pay off debts. This measure, the government said, would mitigate inflationary effects. (Reuters)
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Just six weeks in office, President Gabriel Boric faces his own political problems, his disapproval rating has shot way up, in part due to gaffes from a team with little governance experience, according to Bloomberg. Boric is under fire from both the left, where communists say he isn't serious about dismantling the country's neoliberal system, and from the right, concerned about the country's status with investors.
Boric has said that the fate of his government is linked to the fate of the constitutional convention -- Robert Funk explores some potential scenarios in Americas Quarterly.
Chile's constitutional convention rejected a set of proposals focused on expanding environmental protections last week, particularly in relation to the country's mining sector. The constitutional delegates were expected to spend an extended period on 52 articles submitted by the Environmental Commission, including protecting water sources, glaciers and wetlands. But when voting started, constituents rejected the entire proposal, preventing voting on individual articles and sending it back to the commission for changes, without indication of what they should be, reports Reuters.