http://english.pravda.ru/world/20/91/368/15807_chile.html
Chile drops Pinochet's constitution
07/14/2005 19:26
In an historical session, the Senate voted to replace key elements of the
authoritarian charter
Chile's Senate voted late on Wednesday to replace key elements of the
country's constitution dictated by the military rule of General Augusto
Pinochet, who is being accused by several courts of crimes against humanity,
corruption and a long list of other charges. The decision is a major step to
turn the authoritarian charter into a modern constitution closer to the current
democratic system in this South American nation.
Senators passed a number of reforms, already approved by the lower House
of Congress, paving the way to a final vote in a joint session scheduled for 16
August.
"It has been a long way to re-establish democracy in Chile," said the
country's current Socialist President, Ricardo Lagos, who said that the reform
is a victory of all Chileans, no matter their political orientations. Right
wing parties in the Congress that supported Pinochet's bloody regime, voted
against reforms.
Prominent among the new measures is a restoration of the president's
power to fire senior military commanders, a capacity that Pinochet had as Army
Chief. The dictator had imposed this measure to prevent his successors of an
important element to grasp control over the powerful Armed Forces.
After deleting this corporative clause, the military will be finally
placed under direct control of the constitutional authorities.
A number of appointed Senate seats, usually awarded to military or police
figures, are also being abolished. According to current charter, the Army, the
Navy, the Aviation and the Military Police, had at their disposition an equal
amount of seats in the Senate.
The same clause, allowed former presidents to enjoy a lifetime seat in
the Parliament and, of course, the immunity of such a post. Pinochet openly
abused of this right to elude courts' requests.
The country's transition from military rule to democracy was now
effectively complete, President Lagos said. "It has been a long way to discover
that some kind of mutual understanding has to be made possible through
government and opposition political parties."
On the photo: Chile's Socialist President Ricardo Lagos, who ends his
term this year, leaves his post having modernized country's institutional
system
Hernan Etchaleco
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
***************************************************************************
Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg
Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. http://www.ppi-india.org
***************************************************************************
__________________________________________________________________________
Mohon Perhatian:
1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik)
2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari.
3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, http://dear.to/ppi
4. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
5. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
6. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
