Chile: Gabriel Boric has received the final draft of the new constitution and is calling for a plebiscite

The Chilean president Gabriele Boric received on Monday the draft constitution prepared by a National Constituent Convention, which will be voted in plebiscite on 4 September.

“We must feel proud that at the moment of the deepest crisis (…) that our country has experienced in decades, Chileans and Chileans opt for more democracy and not less,” said Boric after receiving the 180-page text. . .

The president immediately signed a decree providing for a plebiscite with compulsory voting on 4 September.

The text has been made public so that people can decide whether to accept or reject it.

“Today we begin a new phase, it is a question of reading, studying and discussing the constitutional proposal that is being delivered to the country today,” said Boric after receiving the copy of the text, which declares Chile a state of social law.

historical ceremony

In a historic ceremony, Boric received a copy of the text composed by 178 pages, 388 articles and 54 temporary regulations.

Create a universal health systemstrengthening public education, protecting the environment and expanding the rights of indigenous peoples are some of the main themes of the proposal.

Chile initiated the constitutional process as a political way to dismantle the wave of massive protests against the inequality that began in 2019, the most serious since the end of the military dictatorship (1973-1990), with thirty dead and thousands of injured.

The Chileans will have two months in two months to study the text that has been drawn up for one year by a body with seats reserved for indigenous people and gender equality, and decides on 4 September if they are satisfied with it or if I prefer to keep the current Constitutioninherited from the regime and neoliberal in nature.

Boric, who supported the constituent process from the outset when he was a deputy in 2019, asked citizens “discuss intensely on the scope of the text, but not on falsehoods, distortions or catastrophic interpretations extraneous to reality “.

“The plebiscite is not and should not be a government process. It is the debate on the future and fate of Chile for decades to come, “added the president.

Although the option to approve the new text in the mandatory voting referendum has been the majority for months, in recent times there is no clear trend and some polls show a greater preference for rejecting it.

The Chilean right, which won less than two-thirds in the constitutional convention, will vote against of the proposal, finding it “radical”, while the pro-government left is inclined to give it the go-ahead.

Agencies

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