Chile’s political parties announced on Tuesday night an agreement on a new constituent process after several months of negotiations following the rejection by the Chilean population in the referendum held on September 4.
The starting point of the proposed new Constitution is a reform project with the institutional bases agreed by several political parties to create a document drafted in democracy and by a body with exclusive dedication, reads a communiqué from the Chilean Senate.
The president of the Upper House, Álvaro Elizalde, and the president of the Lower House, Vlado Mirosevic, have informed of the agreement after signing the document ‘Agreement for Chile’, which culminates a process of nearly three months of dialogues.
«I am grateful for the responsibility of the actors in this dialogue, because today the path to advance in a Constitution born in democracy begins», said Elizalde.
«We have to learn with humility from the lessons of our history and today the ‘Agreement for Chile’ has been subscribed by a significant number of political forces that enables the new constituent process», he has indicated.
Thus, the signatories have reached the conclusion to create a body that will draft the proposal for the new Constitution and that will be formed by popularly elected members and «experts» appointed by the Congress.
Thus, the Constitutional Council will be composed of 50 people elected by direct popular vote, under universal and mandatory suffrage, under the principle of parity. This body will discuss and approve the proposed text and will be dissolved after completing the indicated task.
The Expert Commission will be made up of 24 academics, half elected by the Parliament and half by the Chilean Senate. This body will draft a preliminary draft that will serve as the basis for the drafting.
In addition, there will be a Technical Committee on Admissibility, of 14 jurists, elected by the Senate, which will review the approved norms in order to determine the «eventual inadmissibility» of the measures when they are contrary to the institutional bases.
After this, the final proposal will have to be ratified or rejected by the citizens through a referendum which the institutions estimate will be held on November 26, 2023.
