On Sunday, April 11, we should have elected the constituents who will draft the new Constitution. The pandemic stopped him. The numbers of contagion and death are dramatic, but in recent days they seem to stabilize and start going down. Will we be able to vote on May 15th and 16th?
Some are already starting to propose new dates. Even the perverse idea of putting together all the elections – from councillors to President – in November, without considering the value and urgency of the Constituent.
No doubt the pandemic will remain present, and it will be for many months. It’s a scary disease, not just because it kills. According to those who have passed that trance, it is a real hell and, as if this were not enough, then come the aftermath that can be more or less serious. As if Covid-19 wanted to confirm to us that it came to cause a global catastrophe. literally. That is why strict health measures are and will remain indispensable.
The horror of spreading adds hunger, increasingly widespread, unemployment, anger, frustration, the sense of injustice and invisibility when trying to save tax money at the expense of the poorest, the need to overcome fear to bring bread to the table, outrage at the news that the country’s millionaires increased their fortunes by more than 70%. Much of this reality was the cause of the social outburst of 9/18. Over time, the reasons for the discomfort deepened rather than mitigated, the social wound is now in living flesh.
Will we postpone the choice of constituents again? The constitutional process arose precisely from mobilization and social outburst. Political leadership understood the need for institutional exit to unrest and collective despair.
Winter is coming at us, probably with more hunger and unemployment. More common pots and suffering. All in the middle of the pandemic that refuses to abandon us.
Aware of this situation, Dr. Juan Carlos Said, of the Sotero del Río hospital and a public health expert at Imperial College London, opposed delaying the election and warned that “we cannot keep democracy in the freezer.”
But it was done. The reason: to protect the population. We well know that for most the measures taken are practically dead letter. Quarantines are respected little and nothing, mobility decreases hardly, clandestine parties abound. You can hardly, supermarkets, fairs and malls are crowded. Roads are paralyzed by thousands of vehicles overflowing with sanitary cords. It’s not that they’re not afraid of covid-19, but that many feel like they already know how to take care of the damn virus.
In this context, one wonders whether it makes sense to “freeze democracy”, in particular the choice of constituents. The institutional path of exit to the country’s acute political, economic and social crisis has been paralyzed. Of the four elections that were to be held in April, this is the most relevant, which opens a path of hope to millions of people who are eager for change, who know that their problems will not be solved tomorrow, but need to feel that the country’s course is beginning to change.
As Paula Escobar said in her third column, “the Convention cannot wait.” It is the only choice that does not lead to installation in a specific position of power. Its candidates seek to fulfill a fundamental and urgent task: to draft a new Constitution. Establish rules of the game that we are all willing to accept because they mark the way out to a better country. That is, a country where power is rebalanced, where the market loses supremacy to define our coexistence, where freedoms are not an illusion determined by the economic situation of each one.
Amid the scare of sickness and the anguish of survival, the constituent process should be a relief and an air of optimism. The new Constitution represents the yearning for profound change. A hope – the last, as many and many have told me on my tours of the fairs – of a fairer, more inclusive and supportive Chile. Just more human.
It’s no more dangerous to go and vote than to freeze democracy.
Postponing the constituent process over and over again, entangling the election of the conventional ones in the midst of multiple elections, avoiding the urgent changes required by the country, can be much more serious.
Let’s think about May. Elections will be held in two days to avoid crowds. We know that it is necessary to user mask, bring alcohol gel, keep physical distance and use your own blue pencil.
My predicament in the face of this election is not because I’m a candidate for Constituent. It’s just the other way around, I decided to be a candidate because I understood the urgency of this process. That is why I am confident that there will be many of us who will vote on 15 and 16 May. The result only depends on voters.
The content poured into this opinion column is the sole responsibility of its author, and does not necessarily reflect the editorial line or position of El Mostrador.
