The strict formula that could leave Chile with its old Constitution even if the support for its reform triumphs in the plebiscite

The plebiscite in which Chileans will determine whether to reform their Constitution will take place this October 25. Then, the citizens will be consulted if they agree with that premise and, if the answer is yes, if the Constitutional Convention should be made up of 100 percent by delegates elected by the citizens; or divided equally between parliamentarians and specifically elected representatives.

The conditions of the process arrived after arduous negotiations between the political actors of the country. And some of them, their critics indicate, they are firmly tied to the same styles and formulas of the current Constitution that dates from the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

Opposition groups are especially critical of the two-thirds rule. For them, the need to reach that membership figure is higher than it should be.

“The Convention must approve the norms and voting regulations thereof, for a quorum of two thirds of its members in office “, indicates Article 133, third paragraph of the Agreement for Social Peace and the New Constitution. Interpreted, it means that if two thirds of the votes are not reached in the Convention, there will be no new constitutional text.

The discussion has become complex between those who defend the existence of this rule and those who consider it a burden of the current Constitution, in force since 1980. For the Sociologist, doctorate in anthropology and development, and coordinator of social research at the Universidad Academia de Christian Humanism, Raúl Zarzuri, this is about a “trap” carried out by the same sectors that benefit from the inequalities that the citizenship demanded they be finished during the social outbreak.

“What has been done here in the Constituent Process is to mirror, because it is a mirror of the current politics of Chile. The same political system that we know, if you look at it is basically the same electoral system that was used in the last election of deputies in 2017. It means that if the Approval wins and the same regulations are mirrored for the Constituent Process, it will be a mirror of current politics, the same one that has all the flats that have caused a minority to impose its interests over the majority. The 2/3 have served for this, to tie the system and prevent changes. It is clear that we will have more of the same”, declared.

One of the members of the agreement from where the Constituent Process emerged is the National Renovation Deputy and Lawyer, Gonzalo Fuenzalida. In his opinion, the 2/3 rule that will regulate the quorums of the Constitutional Convention are positive because it implies the opportunity to prevent polarization of forces.

“In legislative processes if there is not a majority, the truth is that it is very difficult to move forward, because extremes should be closer to moderate sectors. It is a setup for reaching good deals. There will always be two extremes that offer quite rigid positions, but in the middle there is a percentage of moderates who, with flexibility, must listen to more extreme positions and agree with them, towards some type of opening. Two thirds are a guarantee of that. What is going to imply, that necessarily, there will have to be agreements on key issues, if not the Constitution is going to be ineffective ”, warns the legislator.

For the congressman, the articles of incorporation must be an “agreement” and this is guaranteed by the 2/3 formula. In his opinion, the result of the process will leave as a consequence a democratically strengthened country and, unlike the pessimists, progress will be made in the subjects that the country requires. “I have always defended what we achieved that November 15th. Chile has always, throughout its history, managed to emerge institutionally from its crises, with an institutional route, even in the dictatorship. Chile has always had an institutional outlet. With a new Constitution, the year 1925, for example, or the year 1981. This is a great difference we have with neighboring countries “, added.

“We must build a new social pact, which will take a year, but I am sure that we will have a better country and it will be good for Chile “, Held.

The sociologist Zarzuri is more pessimistic. “It will be complicated, because the result of the new Constitution will be given in a way tied to the same rules of the past. We are going to achieve some things, but they are not going to represent the changes that citizenship requires. In that sense I I am not so confident. That kind of traps, like the 2/3 is to use the same electoral system of 2017 that suits certain sectors, generally minorities, “he warns.

It will be necessary to reach majority agreements to define the new rules that give order to the New Chilean Constitution. A process that begins on October 25 and that, in this first instance, will be with voluntary participation. For the exit plebiscite, however, the suffrage will be obligatory. Both this rule, as well as that of the 2/3, are among those that the population does not visualize beyond their participation and vote, but that in the same way, have awakened controversy and mistrust from different sectors.

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