​Chile’s constitutional deal

CHILE - In Brief 16 Nov 2019 by Robert Funk

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After nearly a month of almost daily protest intermixed with sporadic violence (mostly arson and looting), practically the entire political spectrum has come together to agree on a process for designing and approving a new constitution. The agreement, signed by representatives of almost every political party, with the notable exception of the Communist Party, proposes a plebiscite to be held in April (the minimum amount of time required to pass constitutional amendments permitting such a vote, and to update electoral registers), asking whether Chileans desire a new constitution, and if so, which method they prefer to design it: a constitutional convention, made up of representatives elected specifically for that purpose, or a mixed convention, half of which would be elected delegates and half members of Congress. In both cases, the delegates would be elected in October of next year, as Chileans will be going to the polls to elect municipal and regional representatives. The convention would have nine months to draft a proposal (extendable by a further three months), and then a plebiscite will be held to approve whatever the come up with. The political impulse for this historic agreement was provided by a particularly violent night on 12 November. That evening the rumour mill was rife with reports that president Sebastian Piñera would once again declare a state of emergency, or worse. The president was expected to make an important announcement at 9 pm that evening but didn’t take to the airwaves until 10:30 pm, finally giving fairly anodyne remarks. It appears that the armed forces rejected his request bring order to the streets. The message was, “this is a political pr...