In Chile, constitutional council completes draft constitution enshrining 'conservative positions'

The rightwing-dominated body charged with writing Chile’s new constitution on [4 October] approved a draft that enshrines conservative positions into law, potentially damaging its chance of success at a December referendum. The draft includes articles curbing the right to strike, guaranteeing the swift expulsion of undocumented migrants, protecting the right to life of the unborn and affirming the right to use private pension, education and health systems — all issues that are fiercely debated in Chile’s polarised society. The text will now be reviewed by an expert panel, and the council writing the constitution will have a final chance to amend it before it is presented to voters. [...] Chile embarked on the process of rewriting its constitution in late 2019, after mass protests over inequality. The country’s current charter — written in 1980 under rightwing dictator Augusto Pinochet, though later reformed — was a central target of demonstrators’ anger. A first attempt at a new constitution, a radical document drafted mainly by leftist leaders and independents, was resoundingly rejected in a referendum last year.
Read the full article here: Financial Times