The socialist who ruled Chile between 2000 and 2006 and was the first leftist in La Moneda after Salvador Allende, 17 years of dictatorship and a decade of Christian Democratic governments, Ricardo Lagos (85 years old, Santiago), analyzes the political moment The key that the Country is currently experiencing: the second attempt in four years to change its current constitution. It was written in 1980 during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet and has been reformed about 60 times since 1989. The most profound changes took place during his administration in 2005, which is why the current text bears his signature. However, Lagos has repeatedly advocated replacing the Basic Charter.
Although he maintained a cautious distance from day-to-day politics, the former president made his voice heard at crucial moments. In July 2022, a constitutional convention dominated by the left presented its proposal and Lagos caused a stir on the political scene by stimulating discussion not only about the two options before this referendum, but also about what would happen after: like the text did not attract the people In order to obtain the necessary support that was shown in the elections, he called for the constitutional process to continue after the referendum, without announcing whether he was in favor of approving or rejecting it. Ultimately, citizens rejected the text by 62% to 38%.
Today Chile faces its second chance. A new process was launched with different characteristics than the previous one, whose stages included the work of a commission of experts elected by Congress, which agreed on a text leading to political consensus. However, the project was then handled by a 50-member Constitutional Council dominated by the right: the traditional council received 11 seats, while the extreme right of the Republican Party received 22 seats. A few days ago, last Monday, the plenary session of the Council approved it with 33 votes from the opposition and 17 votes from the ruling party of President Gabriel Boric, another example of the lack of consensus. The proposal will go to a referendum on December 17th. While the right and center groups have agreed to push it forward – they consider it better than the current one – those on the left refuse to reject it as conservative.
Former President Ricardo Lagos speaks to El País about his position on the referendum. Cristian Soto Quiroz
In this interview with EL PAÍS, Lagos takes a public stance on this referendum. His decision raises expectations in Chile.
Questions. How would you assess the political moment your country is experiencing?
Questions. It is a time of black and white, of night and dawn. A time in which politicians do not understand that the world has entered a completely different phase than everything that has shaped the meaning of development and life in two centuries. We are in the accelerating rise of the digital age, a time that is leaving behind everything that came with Mr. Watt’s steam engine and the Industrial Revolution. Chile leads the Latin American artificial intelligence index, we are part of the profound transformation that lithium and green hydrogen bring, President Gabriel Boric is being listened carefully in Beijing and Washington… But something is happening.
Q What happens?
R. Here we do not fully understand all this and are not creating a great consensus in politics so that Chile can regain the leadership role it has held in recent decades.
Q Last Monday, the Constitutional Council approved a text of the new constitution with 33 votes from the right and 17 votes from the ruling party. Why was there no consensus on the draft of a new constitution?
R. Things are more complex there. I am very disappointed at the conclusion of this process of creating a new constitution. What we have today is the text of a sector that believes it has the right to impose its veto on the rest of Chileans. Ideological inspiration, which may be legitimate in another area of political debate, has prevailed in a way that gives us a partisan text without the ability to represent the nation as a whole.
Q A year ago, Chile held a referendum on a text that was rejected by 62% and was just criticized as biased.
R. This is what we have suffered from, both in the previous constitutional proposal and in this one: this inability to understand that the Constitution is the law of laws. If logic should be like in families; One way or another there is order at home, but that doesn’t stop the brothers from thinking differently, from being different. We don’t have that dimension now.
Q So are you in favor of rejecting the draft new constitution?
R. I am in favor of rejection because I do not see that this constitutional proposal helps us to unite as Chileans, as a society. This is a text that was dismantled by the Constitutional Council in the final phase, despite all the efforts of the expert commission to reach a consensus.
Q Would a different project be possible if the right were to democratically win 33 of the 50 seats in the Constitutional Council?
R. I understand that the councilors arrived there after the May elections, and did so through a democratic process. But if the extreme right and the traditional right achieved an overwhelming majority, that does not absolve them of the responsibility of having worked on a constitution not only for themselves but for the entire country, for all Chileans.
Q Aren’t you afraid that Chile’s future will become even more critical after the rejection, if it is enforced?
R. If a denial is imposed, we will not be left in limbo. We have a constitution from which we can progress through reforms to a country that can truly create a social constitutional state. I don’t want anyone to impose their veto on development with more equality and real access to the changes that are coming. This is what today’s political leaders from all sectors need to understand. It’s about having a constitution that responds to what is coming or what is already presenting us with challenges.
Q What do you think are these challenges at the age of 85 and after a life dedicated to the public?
R. Digitalization is changing life in many ways. Someone like me, who is 85 years old, knows that he will only see some of these changes. But please, the constitution must be designed for those children and young people who are currently at the beginning of the 21st century and many of whom will live 100 years or longer. Chile needs a constitution that provides the appropriate framework for the new tasks of the state in its task of creating a better life for Chileans in the future. But political parties are still evolving with the inertia of the 20th century. By the way, democracy needs parties, but they have to learn to understand citizens differently and to listen to them.
Q Why doesn’t Chilean politics seem to be moving forward while society’s demands are on hold?
R. Apart from the 2016 reform that abolished the binomial system, we see no change in political practice. And especially after the protests and the consequences of the pandemic, the power of social networks to directly question or challenge authorities is enormous. But I still see many situations there in which fighting takes place in the here and now. We need parties and politicians who bring forward proposals for tomorrow, which give us an idea of a country for the 21st century, of a country that knows how to grow in the digital world in all its dimensions.
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