UC: Rector visited UACh to promote participation mechanisms in the constitutional process

Rector Ignacio Sánchez visited the UACh in Valdivia on Monday June 19 in order to promote participation in the current constitutional process. It should be noted that at the national level, the Executive Secretariat for Citizen Participation was established as the entity in charge of executing the citizen participation mechanisms of the Constitutional Process (according to article 153 of the Constitution). Through it, it seeks to collect and facilitate the voice of the citizenry in a timely manner and favor the conditions for it to be considered in the constitutional debate.

The University of Chile and the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile are leading this process , whose rector met at the Central House of the UACh with the deputy rector Dr. Juan Andrés Varas, the director of the Institute of Public Affairs of the Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences , Dr. Francisca Gutiérrez; the director of the Institute of Public Law of the Faculty of Legal and Social Sciences, Dr. Andrés Bordalí, and the director of Links with the Environment, Dr. María Alejandra Droguett.

Rector Sánchez highlighted that “one of the main objectives of being on the ground is to thank the commitment of the regional universities, where we have had a very great dedication and welcome. Here at the Austral University I want to highlight the willingness of those in charge of this work that we know is difficult, arduous and has its complications of time, budget and organization. But we also know that we want to bring the voice of the citizenry to the Constitutional Council and for it to express all their wills, their concerns, their dreams, their desires and their worries”.

“Here at the Austral University I want to highlight the willingness of those in charge of this work that we know is difficult, arduous and has its complications of time, budget and organization”- Rector Ignacio Sánchez.

The UACh deputy rector, Juan Andrés Varas , stated that it is necessary not to make the mistakes of the previous process, indicating that for this the citizens must be listened to, highlight the importance of the participation processes and adequately consider the proposals that are formulated in any of the mechanisms that are open for it. The authority stated that it is important to generate a Constitution “where we all recognize each other, even when it may not interpret us 100%.”

In this sense, he called for the use of participation mechanisms “to record those points on which we do not agree and that need to be accepted.”

Active role of the UACh
Chilean universities have been in charge of designing, coordinating, implementing and systematizing citizen participation mechanisms (article 106, Regulations for the operation of the bodies of the constitutional process). For this reason, in the Los Ríos Region, this important work has been assumed by the various units of the UACh. Together with the Directorate of Links with the Environment, the Faculty of Legal and Social Sciences and the Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences have developed initiatives.

“Regardless of the political position, I would like to call for people to register for the hearings, participate through the citizen consultation and also hopefully hold dialogues, because it is important that we listen to the voices of all” – Francisca Gutiérrez, director of the Institute of Public Affairs of the Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences UACH.

The director of Links with the Environment UACh, Alejandra Droguett, appreciated the importance “that we can participate and that everyone feels part of the process. There are four ways to participate and we are disseminating them through social networks and the website. We are going to carry out a citizen consultation and citizen dialogues to be able to inform people and that each one feels part of the process. From Linkage with the Environment we try to disseminate and publicize these activities, as well as many others that the University has for our community”.

“This participation process goes beyond what may or may not be incorporated into the Constitution. It is a process that reveals what we think about issues that are extremely important for coexistence and therefore, regardless of political position, I would like to call for people to register for the hearings, participate through the citizen consultation and hopefully they also hold dialogues, regardless of their political position, because it is important that we listen to the voices of all of them,” said the director of the Institute of Public Affairs of the Faculty of Economics and Administrative, Francisca Gutiérrez.

In turn, the director of the Institute of Public Law of the Faculty of Legal and Social Sciences, Andrés Bordalí, invited the entire community to participate. “The idea is that this is a constitutional process that will create a constitution that will govern us hopefully for a long period of time if it is approved, therefore, it is important that citizens can participate in this process of these regulations that they will govern themselves. The first invitation is until the 21st to register for the public hearings and then we will continue with other citizen participation activities.

“The idea is that this is a constitutional process that will create a constitution that will govern us hopefully for a long period of time if it is approved, therefore, it is important that citizens can participate in this process of these regulations that they will govern themselves”- Andrés Bordalí, director of the Institute of Public Law of the Faculty of Legal and Social Sciences UACH.

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On June 7, teachers from the Faculty of Legal and Social Sciences of the Austral University of Chile held a colloquium entitled “Comments on the draft of the New Constitution prepared by the Commission of Experts”, identifying relevant aspects for reflection and construction of citizen opinion. on the text that was delivered on June 7 to the elected commissioners at the installation session of the Constitutional Council.

During the month, the participation mechanisms that contemplate the popular initiative of norm, citizen dialogues, citizen consultation and public hearings will be shared. The latter will be convened in the Los Ríos Region from the Austral University of Chile in the Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences-FACEA. To do this, individuals and/or groups must register by June 14 on the platform using a unique password. The hearings will be systematized and incorporated into the constitutional process.

How to participate with your organization and ideas in the public hearing process?
In the first place, a reading and knowledge of the preliminary draft of the commission of experts that allows to formulate visions about the text in preparation. Then on the platform, by using the Unique Password, the Public Hearing request can be completed. Each registration is assigned a close audience that in the case of the Los Ríos Region will be held on June 30 and July 1 at the Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences. On the same platform, you can review the status of the application and the assigned hearing location.