THE topics and proposals will not only be dealt with by the 149 constituent members of the constituent assembly, but individuals, social organisations, civil society organisations and all citizens will be able to participate in forums, town meetings and spaces to analyse and make proposals for the new fundamental charter. 

There will be mechanisms for submitting proposals to the constitutional convention (CC).

Marcos Barraza, constituent convention member of the Communist Party (PC), stated the following regarding the upcoming process: “On October 18 we begin work on the content of the new constitution, and it is essential that it be in harmony with the people, with popular demonstrations, with social voices, with visions of the country.” 

And he emphasises that “the participation of the people will be decisive from October 18.”

The people will be able to address issues such as indigenous peoples, pensions, health, education, housing, the nature of the state, the armed forces and police, diversity, children and adolescents, among others. 

It will even be possible to collect 15,000 signatures for a vote on an issue, and this will have to be analysed and voted on in the convention.

All citizens will be able to pay attention to the “constituent popular education programme” that will emanate from the CC and other dissemination materials, which will allow them to know how this constituent process works, how they can participate and how they are working. 

In addition, a territorial action of the conveners and public accounts began on October 12. This will take place throughout the country.

Barraza says: “It is important that from that day on, an intensive process of popular participation takes place, where it is key that social organisations, people, communities, on issues such as education, health, housing, the environment, the concept of police, the nature of the state, pensions, can go and put forward their points of view. 

“Participatory mechanisms will be implemented to allow the people to influence this process.”

On October 7, the constitutional convention concluded all the preliminary work to establish operating regulations and procedures for the beginning of the construction of the new Magna Carta.

In the end, four regulations and seven thematic commissions were established, as a guarantee of a democratic, participatory and fluid functioning. 

Thousands of amendments, thousands of minutes of debates, hundreds of interventions, dozens of documents, multiple meetings and many democratic votes were required to arrive at the regulations and the framework for the constituent work.

It was established to promote and create mechanisms for territorial meetings, thematic forums and social participation throughout the country, dialogue processes, incentives for participation, guidance, so that the people can be the protagonists of the constituent process.

Emphasis was placed on ensuring that the voices of indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples, children, adolescents, people with other abilities, migrants, Chileans living abroad, prisoners, sexual diversity, together with workers, the world of culture and human rights, scientists and academics, women and feminist collectives, settlers, etc, were heard.

Barraza argues that “the regulations are a methodology, and what is required is the activation of the permanent people in the debate in the convention, that the people be an active protagonist in the deliberation. If the people cease to be protagonists, there is a high risk of refractory positions being installed.”

He says that there are milestones that define the issue of participation. 

“There will be territorial assemblies, public accountability on the part of the constituents, and there will also be concrete mechanisms for participation and deliberation, such as the popular initiative for a constituent vote,” he says. 

He adds: “What does it mean? That if 15,000 people sign to support a vote on an issue, that vote is not only discussed in the convention, but has to be voted in full terms, to approve or reject by the constitutional convention. 

“That is very relevant. Because if we manage to have a vote on the pension system, a vote on the nature of health in Chile, we are shaping social rights in terms of the drafting of the constitution, based on the will of the people.”

Barraza reports that “something fundamental was also approved, the decisive plebiscite. It is a mechanism to unblock the two-thirds quorum that was approved. This means that if something does not obtain two-thirds, but does obtain three-fifths — that is, 60 per cent — it can be put to a plebiscite and this is decisive because it would be the people of Chile who would determine these matters.”

He warns that there is a danger that “not all constitutional norms are fully in tune with the people’s expectations of transformation” and that is why citizen participation is vital.

Hugo Guzman is editor-in-chief of El Siglo, the newspaper of the Communist Party of Chile.