Despite all the back-and-forth of recent months, the Chamber of Deputies —which approved the last pending item with 125 votes in favor— sent to law the reform to promote "the governability and representativeness of the political system." Although the base text of this political reform had already been approved by both chambers of Congress weeks earlier, there remained one discrepancy to resolve regarding a new obligation that parties will have, which they must incorporate into their declarations of principles. "Likewise, (the party) must express its condemnation of the establishment of a totalitarian system; of the use of violence, advocating or inciting it as a method of political action. It must also affirm its commitment to the integrity and transparency of political activity," states the text that was approved by the Senate last week and was now endorsed by the Chamber. With this, the text will go to the Constitutional Court for its respective review. Once that stage is completed, the initiative would be in a position to be promulgated by President José Antonio Kast, unless, after a more exhaustive examination, some provision must be corrected through a veto. In any case, the current government had already sponsored the initiative, proposed in 2025 by the former Minister of the Interior, Álvaro Elizalde (PS), together with his counterpart at Segpres, Macarena Lobos, during the administration of President Gabriel Boric.
Details
In its core aspects, the political reform increases the restrictions on the financing and formation of political parties, establishing as a requirement a presence in at least eight regions and a number of members equivalent to 0.3% of the definitive electoral roll. Until today, as long as the new law is not published, parties could emerge with representation in at least three contiguous regions and with fewer members. The bill also raises the requirements for independent candidacies. In addition, it includes legal recognition of parliamentary committees, defined by the new law as "the body that politically coordinates the political party within the chamber, facilitates the coordination of these with each of those and their relationship with the respective Steering Committee." This gives party leaders legal authority to lead their peers, especially in cases of indiscipline. However, the most pressing effect for the political parties —even the large ones, not just the small ones— is that they will have a period of approximately two years (including an additional grace period) to update their membership figures, a task that has always been tortuous.
"From the publication of this law in the Official Gazette, legally constituted political parties will have a period of eighteen months to gather, in each region in which they are constituted, the minimum number of members referred to in numeral 4 of article 56 of Law No. 18,603, the constitutional organic law on Political Parties," says a transitional provision, which is already virtually approved, having received the approval of both the Senate and the Chamber, and therefore will not even be voted on this afternoon. That transitional article obliges all parties to increase their membership in all regions (if they do not have the required threshold), to reach at least 50% of the new legal requirement, which is more than double the requirement established in the current Parties Law.
Parties in debt
Until today, for a political party to be constituted in a region, the floor is having 0.25% of the vote in the last election of deputies (that is, counting only those who voted), but under this norm 0.3% of the electoral roll would be required (that is, adding those who voted and those who did not vote). For example, in the Metropolitan Region, which has an electoral roll of more than 6 million voters, the transitional floor for a party to remain constituted in the capital will be 9,000 members (9,120). In addition to parties such as Evópoli, the Liberal Party, the Radical Party, the PPD, the FREVS, the Republican Party and the DC would also fall short in Santiago, a strategic territory for any political force. The Republicans, for example, have 7,373 members in the Metropolitan Region, according to Servel data as of July 31, meaning they need to add 1,747 signatures to reach the required threshold. Even the DC, despite its history, is even lower, having only 6,664 members in the capital. However, apart from the fact that the Metropolitan Region will be the most difficult mission, due to the size of its electorate, in other regions most of these parties will also have to grow. The UDI —which has no problems in Santiago— has lower membership in Valparaíso and La Araucanía and would also be forced to seek affiliations in those areas. The problem is that, if they fail to reach the transitional threshold required by the law within 18 months, nor within the additional grace period granted by the Electoral Service (around 6 more months), the parties that fail to reach the minimum number of members disappear in those regions.