The project was drafted by the Constitutional Council, in which the extremist Republican Party and the conservative Chile Vamos coalition, have an absolute majority and veto power, which allowed them to impose a series of measures that eliminate guarantees already achieved, such as the possibility of abortion in critical cases.
It also restricts workers’ right to strike, seriously limits the role of unions and enshrines the privatization of essential services, including health, education and pensions for retirees.
The draft of the Constitution was reviewed by a commission of experts, which made numerous amendments and is now in the hands of a mixed team tasked with drafting the points on which there is no consensus.
Hugo Gutiérrez, coordinator of the platform, told Prensa Latina that this Constitution “is not the home of all Chileans, but rather that of a sector, a sect, such as the Republican Party,” and that it is important to call for voting against it on December 17th, when a plebiscite with mandatory suffrage will take place, to decide whether the Constitution, considered regressive and even worse than the one imposed by the military dictatorship in 1980, is approved or not.
“We are clear on the urgency of opposing an illegitimate constitutional process, carried out behind the backs of the people, where indigenous communities are excluded,” Gutiérrez said.
A few hours ago, the large Chilean business community expressed its support for the draft of the Constitution, as proposed by the extreme right, the leader said and recalled that those are the same people who supported the coup d’état against the Popular Unity and President Salvador Allende, on September 11th, 1973.
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