Chilean lawmakers reach agreement to start work on new constitution

FILE PHOTO: A general view of a polling station during the election for governors, mayors, councillors and constitutional assembly members to draft a new constitution that will replace Chile's charter, in Valparaiso, Chile, May 15, 2021. REUTERS/Rodrigo Garrido

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - The Chilean government and opposition lawmakers on Monday announced an agreement to begin drafting a new constitution, three months after a referendum overwhelmingly rejected a progressive first text to replace a dictatorship-era charter.

The agreement would see the new constitution drafted over next year by a body of 50 so-called constitutional advisors elected by direct vote, based on a preliminary draft prepared by a commission of 24 experts.