A little over a month and a half before the exit plebiscite is held on the proposal for a new Magna Carta prepared by the Constitutional Convention, President Gabriel Boric assured that if the Rejection option wins, it should not continue with that of 1980, since “it does not represent a social agreement in Chile”, but rather “there must be a new constituent process” and, therefore, a new election of conventionals must be called.
“Not being certain of what will happen in a month and a half influences uncertainty. And it is legitimate to support any of the options. I approve or reject. What we have to ask ourselves is what will happen the day after. Chile voted clearly in a plebiscite that he wants a new Constitution, and not only that, written by a body specially elected for that purpose. Therefore, if the Rejection alternative wins, we are going to have to prolong this process for another year and a half,” said the President, in conversation with Chilevision.
If the Rejection wins, “there must be a new constituent process,” Gabriel Boric reiterated, adding that new conventions should be elected, because “that is the path that Chile decided to vote on October 25 in a plebiscite for a new Constitution to be drafted by a body elected for that purpose.
“In the event that the Rejection wins, the constitutional process has to continue in the terms that were agreed upon in said plebiscite. Not to amonize the Constitution that is in place,” stressed the head of state, emphasizing that “there is a transversal agreement today in which the Constitution that we have now does not represent a social agreement in Chile”.
President Boric explained that said request for a new constituent process would be made through Parliament and that, if it were to do so, “it is something that will generate greater uncertainty, since we would spend much more time discussing this.”
“For a long time it was not possible to carry out reforms because there was a political sector that did not want to carry out reforms. And the governing sector was lazy in the face of reality,” he lashed out. And he invited people to ask themselves “in what scenario is it more feasible to make changes, because there are things to improve regarding this text, without a doubt. I do not pay homage.”
Asked what things he would change in the new constitutional text, President Boric did not delve into that, although he assured that “it has to be a more transversal discussion”, noting that he would personally like “for us to have a broad agreement regarding things that must be modified, for example, the issue of Justice Systems versus the Judiciary or making it absolutely clear that pension funds cannot be expropriated”.
In his opinion, there are “malicious interpretations” of the New Constitution. For President Gabriel Boric, “there are those who are interpreting the text in bad faith and opening space to fears that people have about what is going to happen next. Those fears must be dispelled.”
“On our part there is a willingness to improve, through tools of this same process, the modifications that we have an agreement to make,” he concluded.
Finally, he specified that “writing a new Constitution through a body elected especially for that purpose can also be through 4/7, this has nothing to do with being against or in favor of that reform. It is good that there can be progress regarding what is not wanted to reform before. But the constituent process in case the Rejection wins has to continue in the terms decided by the people of Chile”.
