This Monday, March 6, the new constituent process officially begins. Prior to its installation, and pending the Constitutional Council elections on May 7, the 24 members of the Expert Commission met at the headquarters of the National Congress, in Santiago, to resolve practical and operational issues.
In Friday’s instance, the experts addressed issues such as the emails they will use, credentials, work mechanisms and the facilities they will use. This preview took place in the midst of the negotiations to define those who will lead the subcommittees and the board of directors of the organization, with a president and vice president who will be elected by simple majority.
The president of the Senate, Álvaro Elizalde (PS), spoke about this new process, indicating that it will take place in a different climate from the previous one. “The demand for a Constitution born in democracy, which is a factor of unity, which allows us to progress as a country, continues to be an objective raised by major sectors of Chilean society. The success of the process is not guaranteed, because it is required above all a constructive attitude of all the actors that participate in it,” he said, on that occasion.
The head of the Upper House addressed the issue again this Saturday, stressing that although the draft that the experts must deliver is important, the body that will decide “the content of the text” is the one that will be democratically elected on May 7.
“The day after tomorrow, Monday, the Expert Commission will be set up to prepare the draft. But we must never forget that the body called upon to decide the content of the text is going to be a body democratically elected by the citizens, that body is the Constitutional Council that will be elected in May,” said Senator Elizalde, according to Radio Cooperativa.
The socialist legislator stressed “it is very relevant that citizens go to the polls to choose who will be part of this body fully elected by the people, because it will be that body that will determine the content of the new Constitution”.
In any case, he stressed that the work of the Constitutional Council will be carried out based on the proposal of the Expert Commission, but having “sovereignty.”
It is worth mentioning that this Wednesday, March 8, the campaign for the Constitutional Council begins, a process in which well-known high-profile political figures on the different lists are expected to play an important role.
