why does chile want a new constitution

It was in this landscape that, after a US-assisted coup, Pinochet took control and, in the 1980s, sought to reform the economy, lowering tariffs, inviting foreign investment, capitalizing on a copper boom, and joining trade agreements with other nations in the Americas. Even though it has been amended almost 60 times, some feel a completely new document is needed. The current charter dates from forty years ago, when Chile was still ruled by despot General Augusto Pinochet. By Daniela Mohor W. Elisa Loncn, a Chilean linguist, grew up in a "ruka," a traditional wood and straw hut where the Indigenous Mapuche people live in rural areas of south-central Chile. Here's why. Chileans have long criticized the lack of access to housing, good healthcare, education, and pensions, he says. With such high stakes, will the new constitution will help the country's leaders find ways to maintain economic success while ensuring greater equity for the 99 percent, or will this end up being a permanent tradeoff? The final draft, submitted July 4 of this year, gives unprecedented rights to Indigenous communities, granting sovereignty over their territories and installing an Indigenous judicial system to try cases particular to those nations. By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. SANTIAGO, Chile . Additionally, 79% of voters agreed that the new text should be drafted by way of a constitutional convention. Introduction Why Does Chile Need a New Constitution? Here are five things to know about possible factors behind the Sunday vote, in which 61.9 percent of voters rejected the draft constitution: Drafting disarray Theyremain invested incarrying forth many Chileans visions ofchange. JenniferM.Piscopo isan Associate Professor of Politics at Occidental College, where she also directs the Center for Research and Scholarship. Almost never does the climate and ecological crisis play a . Piera, the right-wing, billionaire president then in his second term, called out the military and imposed a state of emergency, claiming, We are at war against a powerful enemy, who is willing to use violence without any limits. Though the protests did bring about some looting and violence ultimately about 30 people were killed they also brought about an agreement to vote on whether and how to adopt a new constitution. For a country with two Nobel prize winning poets, a burgeoning startup economy, . It's working on creating an entirely new constitution. It was approved in a 1980 national plebiscite which the opposition says was rigged. Chile's current constitution was adopted in 1980, during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. India-Pakistan Ties Are Warmingbut Don't Get Excited Just Yet. If approved, it will take more than a year to finish writing . A year after nationwide protests, Chile goes to the polls on a new constitution. While we fear constitutional reform because we have no say in it whenever it gets bandied about in our neck of the woods, Chile is rejoicing because they are finally moving away from the Pinochet-era constitution they've had that has systemically held them back for the longest time. You have reached your limit of 4 free articles. Over time, the stark disparity bred strong resentment among working-class Chileans fed up with substandard public healthcare and education, students who can't afford rising tuition fees, the elderly who barely get by on meager public pensions, and indigenous people, who account for 9 percent of the population yet have no cultural or land rights. In a national referendum on Sunday, Chileans overwhelmingly voted in favor of a new constitution. The system-wide dissatisfaction that sparked the 2019 protestshad deep roots. But Why is Sir Syeds Islam Not Taught? A woman holds booklets containing the new constitution during a demonstration in support of the Chilean new constitution, in Santiago, on Aug. 30, 2022. Leftist student groups demanding systemic change and ordinary Chileans suffering from the countrys severe economic inequality gathered in the streets for months, defying government curfews and sometimes clashing with police. After student-led protests in October 2019 broke out over hikes in transportation fares, months of demonstrations expanded to include broader. Google Pay. Why does Chile need a new constitution? Sign up for our weekly newsletter to receive selections from new issues of. In July 2022 the final draft was released. In Chiles 1980 constitution, Pinochet set out a plan for a 1988 plebiscite; on that date, people could vote on whether they wanted to keep him in office for a further eight years. This has created turmoil and disbelief in the minds of many people . Inflation is at a 28-year high, the pesos value at an all-time low, and violent crime is surging in Chile, with Borics approval rating now at 38%. Although the reforms enjoy widespread support among Chileans, opponents say that implementing a robust social safety net could stifle the country's economic prospects, and open up Chile to the political and economic upheavals that have plagued neighbors like Argentina. Now this document faces an up or down ( Apruebo or Rechazo) plebiscite on September 4, 2022, requiring a simple majority to pass and in which it is mandatory for Chileans to vote. exploded in the largest and most violent protests yet. For decades Chile has been an outlier in South America, boasting political stability and steady economic growth in a region long mired in conflict and economic crises. Chile's present constitution is a holdover from the rule of Augusto Pinochet, the military leader who took over the country after overthrowing democratically elected socialist President. H ow is it possible that in October 2020, almost 80 percent of Chileans expressed their support for a new Constitution, drafted by citizens specifically elected to write itbut after a year of. The vote is monumental in many ways; its a test of 36-year-old President Gabriel Borics leftist government, as well as of the constituent assembly, which wrote the new document. Chile soon became the most business-friendly South American nation, and its accumulated GDP expanded by an astounding 800 percent from 1990 to 2018. Chileans had taken to the streetsat various pointssince the mid-2000s,from high school and university students demandingbetter public educationto Indigenous peoples denouncing persistent exclusion and state violence. Although Chile has been fairly stable and economically prosperous in the latter part of the 20th century, that prosperity hasnt touched everyone equally. Education, healthcare, and pension systems remained privatizedeven wateris owned by transnational corporations and sold at usurious rates. While some parties believe a new Constitution will lead to more freedoms, others believe it would upend decades of political stability and economic success. The referendum asked Chileans two questions: firstly, if they wanted a new constitution, and secondly, what kind of body they would want to draw it up. OnSeptember29,leftist delegates in favor of removing the supermajority failed to convince the assembly,but the Conventionsuccessfully approveda procedural code thatLoncn, Bassa, and other reformers hailed as inclusive and participatory. Chileans are still at the voting booths, though, and this is a mandatory vote, meaning that the final numbers could be quite different. That constitution, originally written in 1981, upholds the free-market policies that buoyed Chiles economy. This referendum was to determine whether or not Chileans. All Rights Reserved. Chile's Vote on a New Constitution Is a Big Loss for the CIA and the "Chicago Boys". Looking ahead. The countrys student movement has long been a powerful force in Chilean politics, starting under Pinochet and continuing under subsequent civilian presidencies to subvert government attempts to restrict their rights to protest, as well as the states public-private education model, which former President Sebastin Piera endorsed during his first term. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. The upcoming constitutional assembly of 155 people next April will . What we know so far about the 2022 midterms, in charts, Lauren Boeberts extremely tight race in a safe Republican district, explained, The ridiculous Twitter check mark situation just got more complicated, What wins for Medicaid and the minimum wage mean for the future of ballot initiatives. This means maintaining the current text, created during the Pinochet dictatorship and which represents the beginning of neoliberalism in . ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: Chile is in the process of reinventing itself. We aim to give research-driven, smart, and accessible information to everyone who wants it. The proposed new constitution has 388 Articles and 58 Transition Instructions. The back story. Polling has seen support for the new constitution drop to 37 percent, although its impossible to know how much social media misinformation and half-truths as opposed to peoples fear of change contributed to the polling numbers. Chileans want an equal change The legalization of abortion, stricter environmental laws, support for social projects, and the political and special situation of indigenous people are very specific issues where the wording of the new Constitution must be very balanced in order to achieve a national agreement, and therefore civil approval. Reuters The referendum was one of the. To quell what became known as the social explosion, the government initiated the process of replacing Pinochets constitution with a new text. It was approved in a 1980 national plebiscite which the opposition says was rigged. The public's hope is that the. Will We Look Away? The new constitution was written by a constituent group elected by the Chilean people. Debate: Theres Anger at AMU Dropping Maududi, Qutb. Not likely. Inanational referendum held on October 25, 2020,nearly 80 percentof Chileans agreed that the country shouldhavea new constitution,to be written at aconventionattended byspecially electeddelegates. But Piera abandoned the project when he entered office until he could no longer ignore peoples desire for change, and congress proposed the two-part plebiscite in 2019. However, the 1980 charter largely concentrated power in the hands of Santiago's political and business elite, who prospered handsomely while the rest of the country got left behind. More than 14.8 million Chileans are eligible to vote Sunday and several polls show that at least 70% favor drafting a new constitution. Chile's President Gabriel Boric . Over time, the stark disparity bred strong resentment among working-class Chileans fed up with substandard public healthcare and education, students who can't afford rising tuition fees, the elderly who barely get by on meager public pensions, and indigenous people, who account for 9 percent of the population yet have no cultural or land rights. While were committed to keeping Vox free, our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism does take a lot of resources. The budgetrejectedtheConventionsrequest foran additional several million Chilean pesosto supportstaffing and other operational expenses. This result turned upside down all previous predictions which envisaged a very close result whichever was the winner. "The constitution that was written now leans too far to one side and does not have the vision of all Chileans," Roberto Briones, 41, said after voting in Chile's capital of Santiago. Withresounding majorities choosingchange, Chileans returned to the streetthis time in celebration, buoyed by hope that a new constitution would finally erasethe legaciesof the 19731990 military dictatorship. In a country where it seemed like nothing could change, it is a monument to change, as constitutional assembly member Brbara Seplveda told the Washington Post. The Pinochet-era constitution had been amended several times under democratic presidents, and former President Michelle Bachelet proposed a new constitution five days before the end of her term in 2018. With such high stakes, will the new constitution will help the country's leaders find ways to maintain economic success while ensuring greater equity for the 99 percent, or will this end up being a permanent trade off? Pinochets defeat in the 1988plebiscitein which 56 percent of voters rejected an extension of his rulebrought about free and fair elections. Quotas ensured Indigenous participation in the process proportionate to the population sizeyet these delegates didnt represent the more conservative opinions of many Indigenous Chileans, Bunker says. Yettheir argumentscannot be separated frompartypolitics. Italsostipulatedthat votersmust approve any new charter in yet another referendum. A future attempt could draw on the positive elements of the old constitution and new ideas, Bunker adds. The political and economic environment surrounding the rewrite also hurt the constitutions chances, Bunker says. in a country where abortion was illegal until 2017. Conjuringmemories of the dictatorship,Pierawhose initial cabinetincluded politiciansthatsupportedthe detention and torture of prisoners during the Pinochet regimecalledprotestors a powerful and relentless enemy.Policeinjured scores of demonstrators by firing rubber bullets into their eyes andsubjecteddetainees to violence and even torture. BecauseChile does not allow direct reelection,Pieracannotrun. Chile exploded into protest in 2019 and millions of people took to the streets. Chile adopts a new constitution (the 'Alessandri constitution'). But Can It Be Trusted? Congress had agreed that an all-elected Convention needed to have genderparity butwrangledover the exact electoral mechanism. Elections will be called for a new assembly of delegates to start the process from scratch, but its unclear how long it will take. The vote was the climactic result of weeks ofparalyzingdemonstrationsin 2019, asstudents,feminists, workers, Indigenous peoples, pensioners, and thousands of othershad takento the streetsto protesteconomic and socialinjustice. On October 25, 2020, with a participation of the electoral roll at over 50%, 78% of Chilean voters agreed to a new constitution for their country. Protestorsinsisted, Its not thirty cents, its thirty years. By thirty years, they meant the end of themilitary dictatorship led by Augusto Pinochet. At the time, he said in an interview that the process would start from scratch should Chileans reject the current proposal. This November,voterswill elect a new Congress andPresident(though the presidential race couldresult in a December run-off). The12-ptAgreementestablished a referendum on a new constitution thatwould pose two questions: Do you want a new constitution? and What type of body should carry out the elaboration of a new constitution?The second question offered votersthechoice betweenPierasmixedversion,or aconventionconsistingentirelyof elected delegates. For others, misinformation has played a part in their distrust of the draft. The draft document would enshrine unprecedented rights and discard a Pinochet-era framework. Atevery step,the same political and economiccleavageskeptappearing,pitting the conservative defenders of the status quo against a restive and reform-oriented majority. Altogether,Chiles political institutions made reform difficult,creating aninertiafurtherexacerbated by fears that pushing too hard on political or economic liberalization would bring the military back out of the barracks. The center-right coalitionVamos por Chile(Lets Go Chile)won 37 seats, securing a pluralitybut far short ofthecoveted one-third that would give them veto power over the Conventions text. Apresidentialvictory forSichelor Kastcouldsignal that voters appetite for change has diminished,perhapstemperingtheConventions reformist impulses. Why is Chile voting for a new constitution? Though opinion polls in Chile have been wrong before, the left is rightly . Wetlands are protected and glaciers are not explicitly protected in the current constitution, but would be "excluded from any mining activity" in the new proposal. Schools, pensions and healthcare were all partially privatized. They argue that while Chile's economy has been cruising for decades, growth has not trickled down to the majority of the people. The four-cent spark for it all. Designed & Developed by, How to Slow Climate Change While Fighting Poverty, The Prils of Repatriation for Rohingya Refugees, Water Diplomacy Between Bangladesh and India. The proposed charter is intended . In 2019, public frustration over inequality bubbled over following a proposed subway fare hike, with 3 million people taking to the streets in mass protests. In this episode, I interview professor Robert Funk about the nation's political and constitutional challenges and what the new constitution may mean to Chile. The reason is simply: The current constitution (1980) was written under no democratic rules, neither democratic consultation, under a dictatorship. The CC took literally the charge given to them to produce a "New" constitution. In a national referendum on Sunday, Chileans overwhelmingly voted in favor of a new constitution. The explosion of social unrest was a crisis that forced us as a society to fundamentally question the model under which we have lived for the past thirty years and which has caused widespread discontent in Chilean society. Close why does chile want a new constitution whichever was the winner assembly of 155 people next April will perhapstemperingtheConventions reformist impulses elements the... 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