President Sebastián Piñera addressed the constituent process, showing his discontent with recent events but hoping that “we still have time to amend and reconnect with the spirit of the Constitution.”
In interview with The Mercurythe President pointed out that he hopes that a “good” proposal will come out of the work of the constituents, since in his opinion “it makes no sense to support a bad Constitution”.
“The Constitution that we want for Chile must be that great framework of unity that allows comprehensive, inclusive, sustainable development. It must be the result of a great agreement, defend and promote principles, equality and rights. It is not what we are seeing. I am concerned about this refoundational desire, Chile has a history, it does not begin with the Constitutional Convention. There is an identity attitude, everything is reduced to situations of individuals or groups and the common good is forgotten,” he remarked.
In that sense, the country’s highest authority specified that certain proposals of the new Constitution seem “risky” to him.
“It is very risky to weaken equality before the law, the autonomy and independence of the Judiciary, which is a counterweight. I see a tendency to centralize power and excessive territorial decentralization, which can translate into a monumental bureaucracy. I am concerned that freedom of expression, essential for democracy and a free country, will be undermined,” he detailed.
Regarding the “rejection” option, he emphasized that he had “hope and faith that we still have time to amend and rediscover ourselves with the spirit of the Constitution. As the president of the Senate said, “a generation cannot pretend to refound everything.” A Constitution is not for a moment in the country’s history or for a group that temporarily manages to gather majorities, it is for everyone and with a projection in time, “she said.
