During this week, it was announced that a significant percentage of candidates for the Constitutional Convention will not have space in the traditional television strip in period of elections.
According to the figures provided by the National Television Council (CNTV), will be about 40%, the letters that will not appear on TV during the campaign period.
This situation is generated due to the current regulation on the subject. “What CNTV We are responsible for applying current regulations and the participation of independent candidates is defined by law, any change or improvement is the power of the Legislative Power. We do not have the authority to solve a problem that Congress did not foresee, “said Carolina Cuevas, president of the CNTV.
The set of independent candidates will also correspond a time equivalent to that of the political party that obtained the least votes in the last choice (of Deputies), which will be distributed among them in equal parts, something that is clearly not equal.
Independents speak out
The independent candidates of the Region made their opinion known regarding the absence of those who do not belong to political parties in a massive campaign that reaches many viewers.
“As candidates, we should not be surprised by this disproportion that is generated in the times of the electoral strip. The distribution of power in Chile is made for the system to last, to be bureaucratic and overrepresented, ”commented Ana María Cavalerie, from the Biobío Independent List for a New Constitution.
He added that “the fact that we do not have time means that the process was carried out without taking all the safeguards of representation of the majority, who did not want the political parties to be part of this historic process.”
The candidate made a call as an independent, requesting to set up a electoral strip creative, supported by independent press that has been a great support since October 2019, making known the process of change and transformation that Chile has experienced.
For his part, Ricardo Mahnke, from the Concepción Popular Assembly list, pointed out that “the null presence in the television strip for the candidacies, it does no more than reflect the discrimination that is applied to the candidates who go outside the parties. Since we not only had little time to register our candidacies, the parties did not have that requirement, that we are living in a pandemic with many restrictions, and that we do not have more funding (promised by the Servel, but still without knowing the amount or the term, with 49 days remaining until the end of the campaigns), considering that the political parties distribute 7 billion pesos annually, ”he said.
He added that it is a serious injustice from Congress, who have done very little to do justice in this situation, thinking that it was people without parties who took to the streets to demand a new Constitution through a Constituent Assembly.
“The CNTV, a State body that regulates this televised promotion, does not respect the equality of all citizens and favors the same as always, who, for more than 30 years, have violated human rights and dignity. If there are no changes to this situation we, in La Lista del Pueblo, promote our own Stripe, “The People’s Strip”, indicated the candidate.
For the upcoming elections A change could be generated, as long as it is legislated seeking equal conditions among the candidates. Everything will be in the hands of parliament.
