The new constitutional process started on Monday, with the installation of the Expert Commission.
This Wednesday the electoral campaign began in Chile to elect, on May 7, the 50 members of the Constitutional Council, the body that will be in charge of drafting the new Magna Carta of the South American country.
This new constitutional process was launched after, in September of last year, the public rejected the previous proposal for a Magna Carta that would replace the text inherited from the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship (1973-1990).
The election process for the members of the Constitutional Council, for which 350 candidates have nominated in five pacts, stipulates rules for the body to be equal and special rules for the election of representatives of indigenous peoples.
One month after being elected, on June 7, will be installed the members of the Council to elaborate the final proposal of the new Constitution, for which they will have a period of four months.
The Expert Commission
The Constitutional Council will not start from scratch to draft the new Magna Carta, since it will receive a preliminary draft prepared by the Expert Commission, which was installed last Monday, thus starting this new constituent process.
This Commission is made up of 24 people, 12 men and 12 women, who were chosen by Parliament. The body has a period of three months, until the beginning of June, to prepare this draft and deliver it to the Constitutional Council.
Once the 50 counselors are installed, they will have the advice of the 24 experts and the 14 jurists who will make up the Technical Admissibility Committee and who will resolve their queries.
The 14 people of the Admissibility Technical Committee will be proposed by the Chamber of Deputies and subsequently ratified by the Senate.
The new constitutional text will be submitted to a referendum before the Chilean citizens on December 17.
