translated from Spanish: Parties reached historic agreement: mechanism for new Constitution will be defined by plebiscite

At about 02.30 hours at the congressional headquarters in Santiago, the President of the Senate, Jaime Quintana, gave an account of the agreement reached by almost all political parties with parliamentary representation, concerning a process to generate a new Constitution.” It’s a historic night for Chile, for democracy. It is left to thank Chileans who in these days have conveyed a very deep message,” said the President of the Senate, who also said that with the agreement “we offer a 100% democratic Constitution.” The agreement implies that next April a plebiscite will be held, in which a new Constitution will be consulted and, whether or not it should be carried out by a mixed convention or a constitutional convention. The members of these conventions will be elected in October 2020, together with municipal and regional governors’ elections and their proclamation will be by the same method used for parliamentary elections (De Hondt system). The body shall be established only to draft the Constitution and shall be dissolved once its work is completed. Its operation will be nine months, extendable only once for three months. The rules and regulations decided for the new Magna Carta shall have a quorum of 2/3 of the members of the instance that is selected for such work. Once drafted, the new Constitution will be subject to a ratification plebiscite by compulsory suffrage and, upon its adoption, will govern from its promulgation, organically repealing the current Constitution. The agreement was signed by DC presidents Fuad Chahin; PS, Alvaro Elizalde; Jacqueline Van Rysselberghe; of RN, Mario Desbordes; PPD, Heraldo Muñoz; Carlos Maldonado; Luis Felipe Ramos; from Evópoli, Hernán Larraín; Javiera Toro; of DR, Catalina Pérez, and by Congressman Gabriel Boric.

Original source in Spanish