Chile overhauls dictatorship-era electoral system
Under the measure, seats in Chile's lower house will increase from 120 to 155
SANTIAGO (AFP) - Chile s congress on Tuesday approved a law replacing an electoral system established during the Pinochet dictatorship that favored right-wing parties.
The new law puts in place a system based on proportional representation, with more electoral districts and a lower bar for registering political parties.
Under the measure, seats in Chile s lower house will increase from 120 to 155, and in the senate from 38 to 50.
The law also stipulates that 40 percent of the candidates should be women.
Social Democratic deputy Pepe Auth said a "fundamental pillar" of Augusto Pinochet s 1973-1990 military dictatorship had fallen with the passage of the new law.
Under the old "binomial" system, put in place in 1980, two lower house seats were assigned to each constituency. In elections, they typically went to the winner and second place finisher.
That ensured that the Congress was virtually divided between the center-left majority and the right, which then held the power to block democratic reforms.
