A total of 15.1 million Chileans vote this Sunday in a referendum for the new constitution, divided between those who see it as a historic opportunity to recover rights and those who consider it to restrict freedoms.
But among them, there is a general conviction of the need to change the current Constitution of Chile, drafted in 1980, during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990), and only partially revised in 2005, during the presidency of Ricardo Lagos (2000). -2006).
Despite the fact that in recent weeks several polls have favored the rejection of the proposal for a new fundamental law, the communist deputy Karol Cariola, considered the spokesperson for the “Yes”, was optimistic about the approval of the text, considering it “a historic opportunity “. to recover resources and guarantee fundamental rights, in addition to its equal character, internationally applauded and that could make it the “most feminist” Constitution in the world.
“In this new Constitution, the recovery of [recursos] natural resources such as water, the protection of rivers, health, education, housing, pensions or the recognition of domestic work, mostly carried out by women, which is not even mentioned in the current Constitution, but which is recognized in the new rights and opportunities, said the deputy, quoted by the Spanish news agency Efe.
“This is a process that took place democratically, in an egalitarian manner, an achievement that many women today strongly demand because it is about being seen as peers, equal to men, who have been a gender that has generally experienced privileges as a result of a patriarchy. but now we’re starting to level the playing field,” she added.
One of the most recurrent criticisms of the sectors that reject the Magna Carta is that it does not “pronounce on security”, one of the social concerns due to the increase in violent crimes.
But Cariola assures: “This is a problem that has nothing to do with a Constitution or a Government, but with the type of society that we have been building.”
“A society without opportunities, where it seems that what prevails is violence, there are situations of social insecurity that lead to violence and, therefore, to crime. People have the right to live a life free from violence and this Constitution enshrines this right. , for the first time assumes the right to public security, ”he said.
“It is a step forward towards the recognition that all people, regardless of their social origin and place of residence, have this right. [à segurança pública]. The lack of territorial justice in the distribution of resources is also one of the problems, and this text assumes it by establishing an equitable distribution of police forces”, he underlined.
On the other hand, those who oppose the new text consider that it “restricts freedoms”, “does not set limits” and makes “the State overlap” with citizens, explains Claudio Salinas, a former member of the ultra-conservative Independent Democratic Union. (UDI) and one of the spokespersons for the “Citizen House for No”, which brings together dozens of social organizations.
Salinas believes that the Convention that drafted the new Constitution proposal for one year “did not listen to the citizens.”
“We participated in the public hearings, where there was a rather random and questionable mechanism to define which organizations were attending. We registered more than 50 organizations to participate in these hearings and only two or three were selected”, she observed.
He explained that they promoted initiatives on issues of security, health, education and pensions, but “unfortunately they were all rejected by the Convention, some did not even make it to the plenary session,” he added.
According to Salinas, the new Constitution lacks “fundamental balances for a stable democracy”, eliminating institutions such as the Senate, removing many powers from the Presidency of the Republic or creating a Chamber of Regions that does not have oversight capacity but participates in the legislative process together with with the Chamber of Deputies.
“The most serious thing is that, as citizens, it takes away certain freedoms. A Constitution must give the general principles on which we will continue to work and guarantee citizens that the State will not ignore us”, he added.
For Salinas, one of the most profound changes is the transition from a subsidiary State (in which the principle of subsidiarity prevails, a principle of social organization according to which the social or political issues of a society must be resolved in the most immediate local sphere that has the capacity to solve them) towards a “Social State”, in which public services are strengthened to guarantee universal benefits.
Although Cariola asserted that the rejection of this proposed constitutional text would unleash a scenario of “total uncertainty,” Salinas said that the constituent process would continue and that it would be necessary “to create a great citizen political agreement as soon as possible to make concrete the changes that the country needs to”.
The constituent process arose in the context of the gigantic wave of protests against inequality that began at the end of 2019 and that left around 30 dead and thousands injured throughout Chile -the most serious since the end of the dictatorship-, generating a situation of public disorder that academics consider that, deep down, never ended, only calmed down in the following three years.
For the drafting of the new fundamental law of Chile, decided by agreement of the political forces, a Constitutional Convention was created made up of 154 representatives, with an equal number of men and women – the first in the world – and places reserved for indigenous peoples , who for a year drafted the text that will be submitted for popular approval on Sunday in a mandatory referendum, the seventh vote in the country in two years and perhaps the most important of the 21st century so far.
Despite initial enthusiasm, the Convention gradually lost support due to internal friction and various scandals that tarnished the reputation of some of the constituents.
The latest polls revealed that, with a difference of more than 10 percentage points, the “No” would be imposed on the new text, which declares Chile a social State of law and enshrines fundamental rights.
Experts consider, however, that the result is open, because this time the vote is mandatory and more than 50% of the electorate has not gone to the polls since 2012, the year in which the vote became voluntary in the country.
Source: TSF
