Bachelet: “Today we have left the burden of the binomial system behind us; it has held back political representation in Chile for so long”

“Today is a great day for democracy and a joyous day for the people of Chile. We have waited a quarter of a century for this moment.” With these words President Michelle Bachelet emphasized the importance of the new law that will replace the binomial electoral system and strengthen representation within Chile’s National Congress.

President Bachelet stressed that “after 25 years, Chile has formally put an end to the binomial system. After 25 years we have removed the shackles that distorted civic free will and participation. After a long fight, involving many different voices and mandates, today, we are finally leaving behind us a system that neither reflected who we are, nor allowed us to define for ourselves what we wanted as a society.”

Similarly, she noted that “thanks to democracy, we have been able to overthrow a system that the dictatorship had tried to set in stone; in doing so we are breaking with a legacy that was suffocating our republican values. We have reaffirmed a basic principle of democracy: Chile’s progress cannot be defined on the basis of spurious distortions of representation, but by the sovereign free will of millions of Chilean citizens.”

President Bachelet highlighted the underlying principle of the law, explaining that “we have reasserted the belief that our Congress, the central body for debate in our Republic, must be a faithful expression of the Nation we have built.”

Referring to the content of the new law, she emphasized that “with this new system we are also supporting generational change, inclusion, lowering the entry barriers to the legislature for smaller or younger parties, for new leaders and candidates who have originated from the social movements.”
President Bachelet also noted that “with this system we are supporting better, fairer representation for each region of Chile: for the most populated regions, which were under-represented in Congress, and for the least populated, which will have a minimum of three representatives.”

“I have said it before and I will say it again: having more Congressmen and women is not a bureaucratic triumph, it is a triumph for everyone in Chile. It is a triumph for the representation of every corner of our country and our fellow Chileans,” President Bachelet said, adding that “it is the key to ensuring that our Congress is a clear expression of peoples’ voices, legislating on behalf of and for the people.”

Referring to the importance of this law for Chileans, the President said that “Chilean society wants its aspirations to be legitimately represented at the highest levels within the State. And this is precisely the path we are taking. With a new electoral system, but also with a precise law on the funding of political campaigns and political parties; stricter regulations on lobbying and conflicts of interests; stricter enforcement and penalties in cases of corruption; and an institutional framework that operates for the benefit of Chile’s development and the growth of our democracy.”

Concluding her speech she declared: “We can now begin a new chapter in our history, a time when trust can be rebuilt between politicians and citizens, as the basis for our cohesion, coexistence and governability.”