LatinNews Daily - 06 January 2022 |
CHILE: Quinteros elected new constituent convention president |
On 5 January, after an 18-hour session and nine voting rounds, Chile’s 155-member constituent convention (CC) elected María Elisa Quinteros as its new president; she will lead its effort to draft a new constitution by July. Analysis: The CC was elected last year and has been given 12 months (running to 5 July) to complete a new constitutional draft, which is to be submitted to a referendum at some point in the second half of this year. For the first six months it was led by Elisa Loncón, a Mapuche academic and activist. The election of a new leader at the halfway point had always been expected.
Looking Ahead: Quinteros and her vice-president (whose election was still pending at the time of writing) will face a big political challenge this year, since drafting each of the articles of the new constitution will require a two-thirds majority, or 104 votes. While the largest groups in the CC represent the centre, the left, and the independents, to achieve the necessary consensus, she will need to build bridges with conservative groups. |