The right-wing parties Renovación Nacional, Evópoli and the Unión Demócrata Independiente held congresses in which they decided to vote against the project for the new Magna Carta in the referendum of September
The president of the Independent Democratic Union, Javier Macaya (c), in a photograph archive. EFE/Alberto Valdés
The Chilean opposition coalition Chile Vamos, made up of National Renovation, Evópoli and the Independent Democratic Union (UDI), announced this Saturday that will reject in the plebiscite on September 4 the new Magna Carta that a convention made up mostly of independent citizens is finishing drafting.
The three parties, which made up the coalition with which the conservative Sebastián Piñera governed in his second term (2018-2022), decided their positions in different congresses held this Saturday, although they did not generate surprise since for weeks it had been intuited that they were going to support the “Rejection” option.
“Chile deserves a second chance, which is has agreed today in the General Council of the UDI is not to approve what was done wrong in order to do it right again, uniting the country”, the president of the community, Javier Macaya, said on Twitter.
The convention, made up of 154 citizens, mostly progressive independents, is in the phase of “harmonization” of the text and will deliver the final proposal on July 4 in an official ceremony, which includes social rights such as public and universal health, free and quality education, better pensions, access to housing and water .
The traditional right, which barely won 37 seats, alleges that it is a “radical” and “exclusive” norm, discussed no consensus.
For Francisco Chahuán, leader of RN, the vote against the constitutional proposal will serve to defend “freedom and the foundations of democratic institutions.”
In Evópoli, meanwhile, the Senator Luciano Cruz-Coke assured: “what corresponds is that if we are going to be agents of change and provide that promised home for all, it has to be on a well-done basis, that respects the republican history of the country.”
The far-right Republican Party, which is not part of the coalition, also decided in mid-May to reject the text, while the ruling party is inclined to give it the green light.
Maria Elisa Quinteros, president of the constituent assembly, presents the draft of the new constitution (Reuters)
SOLUTION TO THE OUTBREAK
If it is approved in the referendum, which is mandatory for everyone over 18 years of age, the new fundamental law would replace the current, inherited from the Augusto Pinochet regime (1973-1990) and considered by many as the origin of the country’s great inequalities due to its neoliberal court.
Chile began the constitutional process in 2020 as the political way to dismantle the wave of massive protests for equality that began in 2019 and left thirty people dead, thousands injured and removed the foundations of Chile, one of the most stable countries in America America.
In a historic plebiscite in October 2020, almost 80% of Chileans were in favor of changing the text and in May of the following year it was elected in the ballot boxes to constituents.
Much of society saw the constitutional process as an opportunity to change the current subsidiary role of the State, a vision shared by the current president, Gabriel Boric.
Despite the enthusiasm Initially, the convention has been losing adherents over the months due to internal friction and various scandals that affected a list of constituents linked to the social outbreak.
Student march at the end of May (AFP)
Since the beginning of April, < b>there are several polls that place the “Rejection” option above the “I Approve”, although the experts point out that it is too early and that the scenarios are very open.
(With information from EFE)