The 24 members of the body, who were elected by the chambers of deputies and senators of the National Congress, were in charge of drafting the Constitution and now they must approve the final version.

According to Veronica Undurraga, president of the committee, “this bill is not going to be the dream Constitution for any of us”, but in her words, there is the certainty that it is well done, balanced, maintains standards and innovates in important matters.

The discussion and voting process will open with the first article of the draft, where the bases for social and political organizations are established.

The said article establishes that Chile is organized in a social and democratic State of law, recognizes fundamental freedoms and promotes the progressive development of social guarantees, subject to the principle of fiscal responsibility and through public and private entities.

According to Undurraga, the document promotes strong protection of health, education, social security, and the priority right to water for consumption, among other essential prerogatives.

There were no representatives of the native communities in the committee, which was considered by various specialists as an important deficiency, despite the fact that indigenous peoples are recognized “as part of the Chilean nation, which is one and indivisible,” which implies renouncing to the multinational character of the country, as demanded by the Mapuches and others.

Another shortcoming of the constitutional draft is that it does not include the issue of reserved seats for native communities in the Legislative Body .

jrr/llp/car/eam