The Chilean president calls for an open dialogue to draft a new constitution Politics News

The coalition in the government of Sebastian Pine suffered a heavy loss last month in the election of representatives to draft the constitution.

The outgoing president of Chile has asked for 155 delegates who will be writing new constitution The South American nation has set aside its “trench policy” to hold an open dialogue and reach agreements.

In his annual State of the Nation address on Tuesday, center-right President Sebastian Pinera said he would call for a new body “in the coming days.”

According to him, he hopes that the Constitutional Convention will strictly respect the limits and rules of his mandate and will preserve the rights, opportunities and freedoms of all Chilean citizens.

“The agreement will be possible if we are willing to talk and listen to each other and put aside the politics of the trenches so that history (convention) can remember them as strong agreements and those who signed a better future for Chile,” he said.

The Chileans were given the task last month selecting to represent the current constitution, it was written in the 1980s during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

The delegates – who were among more than 1,300 candidates – will have nine months to write the new document. He will then be subjected to a mandatory plebiscite.

“I want to be involved as much as I can in shaping the future of our country,” said 83-year-old voter Monica Manriquez. said Al Jazeera From the Santiago polling station on May 16. “Elections significantly define the fate of a nation.”

While the Chile Vamos coalition in power’s leadership promised to win at least a third of the seats in the Constitutional Convention, it suffered a tremendous loss in the polls.

Most of the seats were in the hands of left-wing independent candidates, as well as many of the social groups that emerged 2019 protests against inequality.

In his speech, Pine said that while respecting the autonomy of the body, he hoped to see the protection of water and property rights, rights to health, quality education, housing, work and social benefits.

Also on Tuesday, Pinera announced plans to move forward with a same-sex marriage bill that has been stagnant in the historically conservative country for years.

“I think it’s time for marriage to equalize in our country,” he said in his speech.

“All people, regardless of their sexual orientation, will have the opportunity to live, love and form a family with all the protection and dignity they need and deserve.”

His government’s reputation has fallen between poverty and unemployment related to coronavirus, as well as because it has tried to prevent citizens from withdrawing from their private pensions.

According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the country has reported more than 29,300 COVID-19 deaths and more than 1.3 million cases to date.