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Chileans to vote on new constitution in response to protests
SANTIAGO, Nov 16, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Chile said Friday it will hold a
referendum to replace the country’s dictatorship-era constitution — a key
demand of protesters after nearly a month of violent civil unrest.
The announcement sent the stock market soaring over eight percent — the
biggest daily rise in a decade — and sparked a recovery by the peso, which
was up 3.2 percent.
Lawmakers in Chile’s National Congress agreed early Friday to hold the vote
in April 2020 after hours of intense negotiations between the governing
coalition and opposition parties.
Government spokeswoman Karla Rubilar hailed a “huge agreement” that allowed
diverse political forces to talk out their differences and give a “signal of
unity.”
Thousands took to the streets of Santiago on Friday afternoon, however,
crowding into the protest epicenter of Plaza Italia, and violent clashes
broke out between small groups of protests and police in the late afternoon.
The charter in force since 1980 and enacted by the former military junta of
Augusto Pinochet has been changed numerous times.
But it does not establish the state’s responsibility to provide education
and healthcare — two demands made by millions of Chileans who have taken to
the streets.
“This agreement is a first step, but it is a historic and fundamental first
step to start building our new social pact, and in this the citizenry will
have a leading role,” said Interior Minister Gonzalo Blumel.
– ‘Destiny’ –
The referendum will ask voters whether the constitution should be replaced
and if so, how a new charter should be drafted, Senate President Jaime
Quintana said.
“It is a political response in the most noble sense of the term, the policy
that thinks of Chile, which is taking its destiny in hand and which is
assuming its responsibilities,” said Quintana, from the center-left
opposition.
The Santiago Stock Exchange closed up 8.1 percent on the news, recuperating
around half its losses since the beginning of the crisis.
The peso recovered from record losses earlier this week, rising 3.2 percent
to trade at 777.29 to the dollar.
“We are happy to have reached an agreement that marks a victory against
violence,” said Jacqueline van Rysselberghe, head of the Independent
Democratic Union party, a pillar of Pinera’s coalition.
Not everyone was convinced, though.
“All the attention is on the constitution but there are more pressing
things: pensions, education,” Raul Opazo, a 39-year-old teacher, told AFP.
The political agreement “solves nothing,” said cleaner Leslie, 27. “What
about our social demands?”
– Weeks of unrest –
The unrest that began on October 18 with protests against a rise in rush-
hour metro fares has mushroomed into a broader outcry against the status quo,
with burning, looting and daily confrontations between demonstrators and
police.
The crisis is Chile’s biggest since its return to democracy in 1990,
leaving 20 dead — five at the hands of state forces — and more than 1,000
injured.
Demonstrators have demanded greater social reform from the government led
by President Sebastian Pinera, who has announced several measures in a bid to
assuage public anger.
After weeks of sometimes violent demonstrations, most polls show the
protest movement is supported by 75 percent of Chileans.
Even more — 87 percent, according to a survey by pollster Cadem published
this month — say they favor the protesters’ demand for constitutional
reforms.
Approved in 1980, Chile’s junta-era constitution preserved some powers of
the military and established an electoral system that long favored the
political right-wing.
Changes in 2005 removed most remaining anti-democratic aspects of the
charter, ending the appointment of non-elected senators and allowing civilian
authorities to dismiss military chiefs.
“The constitution of the dictatorship has died,” progressive senator and
former foreign minister Heraldo Munoz said after Friday’s vote.
A few days after Pinera became president last year, his government
announced it would not allow the consideration of a bill to amend the
constitution that his socialist predecessor Michelle Bachelet had submitted
to congress.
BSS/AFP/GMR/1006 hrs