The Political Constitution of the Republic of Chile of 1980 is the fundamental law in force in Chile. It was approved and promulgated under the military dictatorship headed by Augusto Pinochet, being ratified by the Chilean citizenry through a referendum on September 11, 1980, although being held under restrictions and without electoral registers. While 69% of the population was reported to have voted yes, the vote was questioned by hundreds of denunciations of irregularities and fraud. The constitutional text took effect, in a transitory regime, on March 11, 1981, and then entered into full force on March 11, 1990, with the return to electoral democracy. It was amended for the first time in 1989, and afterward in 1991, 1994, 1997, each year from 1999 to 2001, 2003, each year from 2007 to 2015, and each year from 2017 to 2021, with the last three amendments concerning the constituent process of 2020–2022. In September 2005, under Ricardo Lagos's presidency, a large amendment of the Constitution was approved by parliamentarians, removing from the text some of the less democratic dispositions coming from Pinochet's regime, such as senators-for-life and appointed senators, as well as the armed forces' warranty of the democratic regime.
The Independent Democratic Union is a conservative and right-wing political party in Chile, founded in 1983. Its founder was the lawyer, politician and law professor Jaime Guzmán, a civilian allied with Augusto Pinochet. Guzmán was a senator from 1990 until his murder by communist guerrillas on April 1, 1991.
National Renewal is a liberal conservative political party in Chile. It is a member of Chile Vamos, a center-right to right-wing coalition. Sebastián Piñera, the former President of Chile, is a member of the party.
A referendum on whether Augusto Pinochet, the head of a military dictatorship, should become president for eight years under resumed civilian rule was held in Chile on October 5, 1988. The "No" side won with 56% of the vote, marking the end of Pinochet's 16-and-a-half-year rule. Democratic elections were held in 1989, leading to the establishment of a new government in 1990.
Chile Vamos is a centre-right to right-wing political coalition of three political parties in Chile. The coalition was created on 29 January 2015 by the general secretaries of the Independent Democrat Union (UDI), National Renewal (RN), Democratic Independent Regionalist Party (PRI) and Political Evolution (Evópoli).
Political Evolution, also known in Spanish by its shorthand Evópoli, is a Chilean centre-right political party, founded in 2012. The party defines itself as a liberal platform for the people who look for a "modern centre-right who proposes as the central axis of their proposal the appreciation of diversity, the emphasis on encouraging local communities and the pursuit of social justice".
An election for the members of the Constitutional Convention was held in Chile between 15 and 16 May 2021. This election was called after 78% of voters in the 2020 national plebiscite voted to write a new Constitution through this method.
The Constitutional Convention was the constituent body of the Republic of Chile in charge of drafting a new Political Constitution of the Republic after the approval of the national plebiscite held in October 2020. Its creation and regulation were carried out through Law No. 21,200, published on 24 December 2019, which amended the Political Constitution of the Republic to include the process of drafting a new constitution. The body met for the first time on 4 July 2021. Chilean President Sebastian Piñera said, "This Constitutional Convention must, within a period of 9 months, extendable for an additional 3 months, draft and approve a new constitution for Chile, which must be ratified by the citizens through a plebiscite." It ended its functions and declared itself dissolved on 4 July 2022.
Mario Guillermo Desbordes Jiménez is a Chilean politician and former police officer of Carabineros de Chile. He became the Minister of Defense in July 2020.
A constitutional referendum was held in Chile on 4 September 2022, in order to determine whether the public agreed with the text of a new Political Constitution of the Republic drawn up by the Constitutional Convention. It was commonly referred to as the "exit plebiscite".
Hugo Eduardo Herrera Arellano is a Chilean lawyer, philosopher and scholar dedicated to the Philosophy of Right. Known as the theoretician of the Chilean "social right-wing", Herrera works as a professor at the Schools of Law of the Diego Portales University (UDP) and the University of Valparaíso (UV).
Hernán Larraín Matte is a Chilean lawyer and politician involved in centre-right politics. Larraín is an adjunct professor at the Adolfo Ibáñez University and during Sebastián Piñera's first government (2010–2014) he was presidential advisor. Then, he presided political party Evópoli (2018–2020).
The first election of regional governors was held on 15 and 16 May 2021, in conjunction with elections of members for the Constitutional Convention and local authorities. The process included the direct election of regional governors for the 16 regions, the largest administrative division of the country. Their term will extend between 17 July 2021 and 6 January 2025. In case none of the candidates received more than 40% of the votes, a second round will be held on 13 June 2021.
Apruebo Dignidad was a democratic socialist Chilean electoral coalition officially created on 11 January 2021, by the Broad Front and Chile Digno in preparation for the Constitutional Convention election.
Constitutional Council elections were held in Chile on 7 May 2023. Voting was compulsory, and resulted in an electoral victory for right-wing parties, passing the threshold of a three-fifths majority of constitutional council members to freely draft a new constitution, removing the veto option from left-wing members. This marked a sharp shift from a left-wing majority that freely drafted a rejected first constitutional rewrite in 2021 and was described as a political loss for President Gabriel Boric.
The Constitutional Council in Chile will be tasked to draft a new constitution in 2023. The Constitutional Council was selected by the citizens in an election on 7 May 2023. Councillor Beatriz Hevia was elected President of the Council by her peers on June 7.
The Expert Commission in Chile is a 24 member body created to assist in the drafting of a new constitution by the second constituent assembly. Its primary objective is to draft a constitution for the Constitutional Council before it begins its work, and the commission's text will be used as a starting point.
A constitutional referendum was held in Chile on 17 December 2023, to determine whether the public agreed with a new political constitution drafted by an appointed committee of experts and amended by an elected Constitutional Council. The new text of the constitution was approved by the Council on 30 October and put to a vote on 17 December.
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