Following an agreement signed in extremis by all political parties, on January 17, 2023, the Chilean Congress passed a law that will initiate the process of amending the country’s constitution.
After the announcement of the rise in the price of metro tickets, the Chilean spring of 2019 saw several demonstrations that indicated a general fatigue with social inequalities. The president and multimillionaire Sebastian Piñera became emblematic of these inequalities, he who had declared a “state of war” as a solution to “chaos”.
The idea of changing the constitution inherited from the dictatorial era then reappeared. Nothing suggested that after a referendum where 78% of voters had approved that a citizens’ assembly draft a new constitution, this constitution would be rejected – by referendum on September 4, 2022 – by more than 62% of the population. What had happened to the changes hoped for by more than a million peaceful walkers in the streets of Santiago?
Even before the drafting of a new constitutional project, fears that Chile would become a new Venezuela were present.
Economic turmoil, destruction of family values, urban violence, proliferation of street gangs, illegal immigration, loss of Chilean identity, etc., all these topics fueled the discussions. The uncertainty was there.
An affront to liberalism
This draft constitution, modern and progressive, touched on central points such as the deprivatization of water and education, parity in positions of power, recognition of the indigenous peoples of Chile, the creation of a council of magistracy, the elimination of the Senate, the legalization of abortion, etc. This project also had something to scare a part of the more conservative population. But above all, it challenged the concentration of power of Chile’s economic elite and attacked the strongholds of liberalism, giving space to sections of the population that were traditionally little listened to and often vulnerable.
The Constituent Assembly has been criticized for its errors of course and because of the remarks of some of its members, remarks described as inappropriate, even sometimes extremist, by the majority of the population. What the press did not fail to rehash, to such an extent that a poll revealed that half of the population would have rejected the constitutional project out of mistrust of this Constituent Assembly.
A rational opposition
The media let several rumors circulate, for example that the constitutional project would eliminate private property, raising fears of the arrival of an authoritarian leftist regime. A more serious opposition was expressed by the voice of the so-called “amarillo” movement carried by a TV presenter. He raised what he considered to be weaknesses and ambiguities in the project, leading to provisions contrary to the deep values of Chileans, such as national unity and the unconditional right to abortion.
Therefore, regardless of the result of the referendum, a rejection of the constitution under discussion would no longer be problematic, according to many, since it did not prevent the establishment of a new and future constitution.
The political parties finally reached an agreement, which Congress ratified on January 17, 2023.
The formula
A 12-point formula defines the constitutional debate in order to avoid the pitfalls that led to the rejection of the first constitution. These 12 general points contain compromises on private education or the rejection of plurinationalism. This project recognizes indigenous peoples, but in a single indivisible Chilean nation.
The Congress will appoint 24 experts who will write, from January 2023, a preliminary draft, then submitted to 50 councilors elected by universal suffrage on May 7, 2023 and divided between women and men in equal shares with a representation of members of the indigenous peoples. Voting will be by a 3/5 majority for each of the articles submitted. The Congress will appoint a committee of 14 lawyers or academics to ensure compliance with the 12 basic points. The final text will be submitted to popular and binding vote at the end of 2023.
A constitution under guardianship?
How will the population welcome this project? Faced with the firm rejection of the 2022 referendum, one can wonder if the 50 elected councilors will feel completely free to put back on the table rights that are a matter of greater social justice. Or to develop new ideas or to criticize the project prepared by experts appointed by a Congress often described as conservative or a Senate composed mainly of right-wing representatives? Will the social justice demanded by the protesters of 2019 be stifled by the fear of a new refusal?
Never has Chile been so close to a compromise between various interests. The Chilean laboratory will certainly dictate several lessons to us on the balance of powers.