Faced with the Constituent Agreement reported on December 12, as Coordinating Committee of Social Movements we declare:
From the first moment we have pronounced ourselves in favour of the fact that the body that drafts a new Constitution must be 100% elected by the citizens, parity, with the participation of native peoples and independents. We are convinced that the major problems of our peoples must be solved urgently, democratically and with the collective and representative participation of our territories.
The tutelary design that the political parties unveiled, after months of negotiations between four walls, has resulted in a totally undemocratic “agreement” born of the participation of actors without legitimacy at the negotiating table, such as Amarillos x Chile and Demócratas, who arrogated to themselves the political representation of the citizenry behind the backs of the communities, popular organisations and social movements.
The reduction to 50 seats elected by popular vote, along with 24 seats for appointed experts, contravenes the representativeness of the diversity of the country’s territories and communities, as well as their demands.
Congress has once again demonstrated that it is safeguarding petty and calculating interests in favour of those who have the most, and thus shows no interest in the profound transformations that are required to improve the lives of our peoples.
The “Agreement for Chile” includes the establishment of 12 immovable principles that will be safeguarded by an admissibility commission with veto power and by hand-picked experts who will take the leading role in drafting the draft of the new constitution. The democratically elected representatives will only have the power to approve or reject the proposals of the appointed body, and in the case of suggesting proposals different from those presented in the draft, the possibilities of modification are almost nil due to the high quorums imposed for this purpose. This takes us back to the absolutely anti-democratic practices lived during the dictatorship. All these elements are evidence of the historical exclusion that the political elite has made to the popular sectors, to democracy and the usurpation of the people’s capacity for self-representation.
We call to raise our voices against those who seek to prevent a democratic process to put an end to the Pinochet Constitution and move towards a new Constitution for Chile that does not defend the power and privileges of a few, but puts at the centre the rights and dignity of the inhabitants of our country.
As an articulation of social movements we continue to promote the necessary transformations to achieve a dignified life. We call on all social, territorial, feminist, socio-environmental, trade union, human rights, educational, cultural and housing organisations to join this collective effort by participating in the instances of collective construction and dialogue that we are promoting at the national level.
