Mixed Commission approves without official votes a figure of 18 seats reserved for indigenous peoples in the Constitutional Convention

The mixed commission of senators and deputies, which sought to resolve the differences regarding the constitutional reform that reserves seats for native peoples in the Constitutional Convention and that promotes the participation of indigenous peoples, met until the full dispatch from Monday afternoon until the early hours of Tuesday. people with disabilities in the election.

The 18-seat opposition proposal was voted on and approved by six in favor and four against. The four pro-government legislators were against it and Senator Luz Ebensperger made a reservation of constitutionality.

On November 19, the Senate rejected the proposal of supernumerary reserved seats for native peoples after failing to reach a quorum of 3/5.

For this debate, the opposition proposed that there be nine seats reserved for representatives of indigenous peoples within the 155 constituent quotas already defined and another nine additional seats.

The UDI deputy Juan Antonio Coloma said that the agreement of November 15, 2019 had as its backbone the number of 155 constituents and the quorum of 2/3. For this reason, he criticized the “obsession” of opposition legislators with generating supernumerary quotas. “I tend to believe that it is due to an electoral calculation,” he said. Coloma warned that the norm “is at risk” and the Senate Chamber could end up rejecting it if additional quotas are incorporated.

The debate continued and the session was suspended about 15 minutes after midnight. After a break of more than an hour, they wanted to resume the debate, but the legislators of Chile Vamos did not connect. Then, at 1.40, it was tried again. The pro-government representatives did not join, and at around 2:00 the instance continued, with a quorum of three deputies and three senators. At 2.08, they rejoined.

“Do not think that we were simply disconnected, we were looking for spaces for conversation”, Senator Felipe Kast assured.

“There is a willingness to explore an agreement,” the senator from Evópoli later expressed.

Senator Francisco Huenchumilla said that he was “struck by the absence of the government” in the debate and pointed out that from Chile Vamos there was no availability to change his proposal to incorporate 15 reserved seats within the 155 conventional constituents.

For his part, Rodrigo Galilea stated that “we are trapped by representations of peoples that have all the dignity in the world, but probably do not have more than 500 people recognized in their capacity as such.”

An indication was also approved to establish a space dedicated to indigenous candidates in the constituent election strip, equivalent to 13% of the total. In addition, an indication was approved on additional reimbursement of electoral expenses for candidates for reserved seats of native peoples. Both initiatives did not have support from the ruling party.

Before this discussion, the legislators analyzed proposals from senators Francisco Huenchumilla, from Democracia Cristiana, and Rodrigo Galilea, from Renovación Nacional, regarding the need to establish a register of indigenous voters that would serve to order the process.

In the mixed commission, the opposition emphasized article 33 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which states that “Indigenous peoples have the right to determine their own identity or membership according to their customs and traditions.”

Huenchumilla explained that since there was no agreement on self-determination, he was open to seeking an intermediate position. Galilea emphasized that “self-identification processes are highly regulated processes” and it is not as simple as just accusing belonging to a specific people.

Senator DC pointed out that at the same table, before voting, a sworn statement could be made before the Electoral Service to demonstrate their membership. His peer RN, meanwhile, pointed out that “we consider that this is not a good idea, given how complex the vote is.”

After deliberations, it was decided to suspend the session momentarily, in which it was the first recess of the session, with the purpose of agreeing on an indication regarding the indigenous electoral roll. Tuning the text extended the pause for about an hour.

After the recess, the deputy René Saffirio, representative for the Region of La Araucanía, criticized the indication that was proposed, arguing that demands were established that are not made to other citizens. “I cannot agree with an indication of these characteristics,” he said.

“This has a name and it has an ugly name: it’s called racism. And it is the same racism that the State of Chile has applied decades after decade in our country, “he said.

The indication indicated that “anyone who maliciously attributes the status of indigenous without being one, will be sanctioned with the penalties established in article 467 of the Penal Code,” which was later restructured with a more general text alluding to the sanctions established by law.

Opposition deputies such as Leonardo Soto and Matías Walker argued that they were in favor of the indication regarding the register to facilitate agreement on the complete norm. The indication was approved with seven votes in favor, two abstentions and one against.

The indigenous voters in the register will be identified by the Servel according to the list of people who are included in the National Register of Indigenous Qualities, or data such as the list of indigenous surnames of applicants for indigenous scholarship programs. The payroll must be published by the Servel up to 60 days before the election.