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Dear Reader,
In the March newsletter, we share with you four original Voices from the Field pieces and a number of updates on constitutional reform processes in different parts of the world.
In the Philippines, the diffusing of the over-concentration of economic and political power in the nation’s capital region and in the person of the president will require not only a transition to a federal system, but also a reconfiguration of the powers of the president. In Chile, the swearing in of a president opposed to the core constitutional reforms appeared to have doomed the ‘constitutional moment’. Nevertheless, while the constituent process appears stuck in the formal political institutions, a coalescing of opposition groups may save the moment.
The success of judicial reforms in Serbia will require extensive public engagement and a reformulation of the current proposed amendments, taking into account the views of the Venice Commission and European integration standards. In Ecuador, several constitutional amendments that boost horizontal accountability and democracy after ten years of erosion have been approved. However, the relative ease with which the executive was able to propose and pass the reforms suggests that more constitutional modifications are likely in the future – including the possibility of rolling back these new reforms.
The remaining updates cover reforms around the world from South Africa to Russia and South Korea to Canada.
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