Versión Español
EspañolFormer President of Chile and presidential candidate Richard Lagos will release a second book of citizen proposals for a new constitution the first week of January 2017.
Lagos held a meeting with about 20 constitutional lawyers to define the presentation of the results of the second digital polling platform “Our Constitution,” and agreed to schedule the launch of a new book by the beginning of January next year.
One of President Michelle Bachelet’s main campaign promises is a new constitution that more easily allows for reform and social progress, most notably in education. Lagos, in an early attempt to sway voters, is allegedly trying to make his voice heard in the process.
After several months of town hall meetings ranging from local to regional in size, the results of what the Chilean population wants in a new constitution is finally being published by the government in the form of a book. Lagos will be publishing his own to go with it.
The book will correspond to the selection of 200 proposals of the 500 that were part of the first book “Your Constitution.” That first document, released publicly in April, also featured citizen initiatives.
According to local media, the launch date will coincide with the delivery of the citizens’ proposals for a new constitution so that a national debate on constitutional reforms can be created.
The constitutional proposals of the second book will be composed of eight chapters, just like the earlier version, and will focus on various criticisms of the current political system.
With 47 percent of the votes in favor, the chapter that received the greatest number of votes was the “constitutional rights and actions.”
The main social right people were interested in was education, with 20.1 percent listing it as a to priority, which has among its initiatives, “to improve the quality of universities and to become centers of research and development.”
The right to health was another issue that is a “priority concern of the state.”
Local media reported that last week’s meeting at the foundation’s headquarters was attended by Program Director Gonzalo Cowley and experts who were part of his first project and then formed a board of directors dedicated to the second. Among them were Lucas Sierra, Salvador Millaleo and Francisco Soto.
Sources: La Tercera; Entorno Inteligente; NotiAmérica.
