Constitutional Convention Updates (Nov. 16, 2021)
Constitutional Convention Updates
Constitutional Convention delegates have dived into nitty-gritty magna carta issues -- including the country's (hyper) presidential model. While many question the current system, voices in favor of shifting to an entirely parliamentary system are in minority, reports La Bot Constituyente. One alternative presented by academics is "parliamentary presidentialism," with a unicameral Congress and direct democracy mechanisms. Other proposals include aligning legislative and presidential elections in Chile to foment political synergy or creating a strong cabinet chief position to liaise with Congress. A Tercera poll of delegates before the convention started found that most support a semi-presidential system.
Delegates are also analyzing autonomous branches of government -- particularly the Constitutional Tribunal, which some delegates have accused of reaching unconstitutional decisions. Other areas of the judiciary under analysis include the designation of prosecutors, reports La Bot Constituyente.
European advisors suggested strengthening existing powers before creating new state organisms, reports El Mostrador. They argued against a convention that treats the rewrite process as starting from scratch.
Delegates presented the first proposed constitutional rule that would seek to guarantee the right to adequate housing for Chileans. (CNN, El Mostrador)
Piñera faces political trial
Chilean President Sebastián Piñera faces a Senate trial this week, after the lower chamber of Congress voted to impeach him over allegations he favored the sale of a family property while in office. (AFP, See Nov. 10 Latin America Daily Briefing)
Piñera is unlikely to be removed by the 43-member upper house, where the opposition has only 24 of the 29 votes needed to oust a president, reports the Associated Press. The motion, known as a “constitutional accusation,” requires a two-thirds majority in both houses to pass.
The allegations against Piñera stem from the Pandora Papers investigation, that showed a mining company owned in part by Piñera’s children was sold for $152 million to a close friend of the president, in December 2010, almost nine months into Piñera’s first term as president. The last payment in the deal was contingent on the government’s declining to impose environmental protections on the mining area, a clause blasted by opposition politicians as a “serious” conflict of interest, reports the Washington Post.
Emergency in Araucania and BioBio
Chilean President Sebastián Piñera asked lawmakers to extend a state of emergency in the country's south, last week, and defended the deployment of military troops in the area after two Mapuche Indigenous people died in a clash with security forces in Arauco province. The clashes, along with a video allegedly featuring a heavily armed Mapuche group threatening security forces, "only confirm the need to maintain this constitutional state of emergency,” Piñera said. (EFE, EFE, Perfíl)
Constitutional Convention president Elisa Loncón called on lawmakers not to approve a second 15-day state of emergency in Araucania and Biobio. "Oppression is not perpetual, the peoples are liberated. And we are after that liberation." (Perfíl)
CIPER found that reports of "land occupations" by Mapuche groups in Araucania and Biobio increased as the Indigenous government agency reduced spending on acquiring land claimed by Indigenous communities.
Other news
This weekend's presidential contest in Chile pits leftist politician Gabriel Boric -- leader coming from the country's 2019 protests -- against ultra-conservative José Antonio Kast -- who has become a flagbearer of the "unapologetic" right wing in Chile, in response to those same protests. They will likely face off against each other in a December run-off. (Reuters)
More than 400 Chileans totally or partially lost their sight after being shot or beaten by police in a wave of social protests that started in October 2019. The case of Fabiola Campillai, who lost her sight, taste and smell, is one of the most emblematic -- now she is running for senate. (Guardian)
The Atacama Desert in Chile is increasingly suffering from pollution caused by fast fashion -- Al Jazeera.