Chile: Toward a New Constitution
Chile: Toward a New Constitution
The constitutional convention opens a door to a new political arena in a presidential election year, said experts in an AS/COA panel.
Speakers
- Isabel Aninat, Dean, Adolfo Ibañez University
- Maria Luisa Puig, Director of Latin America, Eurasia Group
- Ariane Ortiz-Bollin, Vice President and Senior Analyst, Moody’s
- Susan Segal, President and CEO, Americas Society/Council of the Americas
“The new constitution is the path for a new political arena,” explained Isabel Aninat, the dean of Adolfo Ibañez University, in an AS/COA event about Chile’s process of rewriting its Magna Carta. On April 11, Chileans will elect 155 delegates to a Constitutional Convention. These delegates will make decisions around the country’s governmental institutions, enshrined rights, and issues like access to water, pensions, and healthcare.
Maria Luisa Puig, director of Latin America for the Eurasia Group, explained that the convention could be driven by “the demand of citizens for more and better public services,” especially after the 2019–2020 Chilean protests. Puig said the results of the April 11 vote will shed light on what to expect in Chile’s November presidential general election and that voters seem underwhelmed by their current choices.
Still, no matter the content of the new constitution, “the government has to find a way to fund them,” noted Ariane Ortiz-Bollin, a vice president and senior analyst at Moody's. As it rebounds from the pandemic, Chile may experience two years of unusually high growth, she explained, while warning that the government will have to be disciplined with its spending to guarantee macroeconomic stability.
