Chile Court Deals Kast 9-1 Defeat Over Free Disaster Reconnections

Chile · POLITICS

The nine-to-one ruling keeps Article 31 of the reconstruction mega-law alive, as scholars Javier Couso and Arturo Fontaine tell Kast to pull his security reform and warn that the threat of authoritarianism remains standing.

The Chile Constitutional Court on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, handed President José Antonio Kast one of the heaviest judicial defeats of his young administration, rejecting by nine votes to one a government petition to erase a rule that forces utility companies to reconnect water, electricity and gas free of charge in disaster zones. The fallout dominated Chilean politics on Wednesday, August 26, when opposition leaders branded the failed challenge the latest in a string of government embarrassments and two prominent constitutional scholars publicly urged Kast to withdraw his flagship security reform.

A nine-to-one defeat at the Chile Constitutional Court

The plenary of the Chile Constitutional Court, chaired by lawyer María Pía Silva and composed of ministers Daniela Marzi, Nancy Yáñez, Miguel Ángel Fernández, Raúl Mera, Catalina Lagos, Héctor Mery, Marcela Peredo, Alejandra Precht and Mario Gómez, voted to reject the presidential requirement against Article 31 of the bill for National Reconstruction and Economic and Social Development, the so-called mega-reform. The article orders electricity, gas and water utilities to reconnect residential users and micro, small and medium-sized companies free of charge in zones declared under a state of catastrophe, even where supply had been cut for non-payment before the emergency.

The challenge was signed by Kast and four ministers: Finance Minister Jorge Quiroz, Minister Secretary General of the Presidency José García Ruminot, Public Works Minister Louis de Grange and Energy Minister Ximena Rincón. It was the only provision of the entire mega-reform that the executive chose to take to the tribunal, a point opposition lawmakers seized on, since the clause is the part of the package that delivers direct, cost-free relief to households and small businesses hit by the January 2026 wildfires in the Valparaíso, Ñuble and Biobío regions.

What Article 31 does and why the government fought it

The clause, inserted into Law 16,282 on permanent rules for earthquakes and catastrophes, sets maximum deadlines of 48 hours to restore electricity and gas and 24 hours for drinking water and sewerage. It bans charges for reconnection, repositioning, technical visits or installation reviews, grants users three days of free supply for each day of delay, and allows them to sue in civil courts to force compliance. It was added by opposition lawmakers, led by deputy Ana María Gazmuri, during the bill’s passage through Congress, where it survived despite the government’s constitutional reservations.

The government’s case before the Chile Constitutional Court was formal rather than substantive: in a 74-page filing, it argued the clause had been smuggled into a bill whose core ideas were financing reconstruction and reviving the economy, thereby violating Article 69 of the constitution, which bars amendments unrelated to a bill’s fundamental ideas. At the hearing, government lawyer Joaquín Palma added a safety argument, telling ministers the 48-hour reconnection deadline for gas ignores case-by-case verification protocols designed to prevent explosions and leaks and, in his words, introduces into the legal system a precept that risks lives. Industry guilds representing gas, electricity and sanitary-services companies backed the challenge, but the tribunal refused their request for a hearing of their own.

One embarrassment after another: the political fallout

Reactions from the left were scathing. Broad Front deputy Emilia Schneider called the outcome one embarrassment after another for the Kast government at the tribunal, arguing the executive had tried to erase a norm that only sought to guarantee access to water, light and gas for families who have lived through a catastrophe. Broad Front president Gael Yeomans said the government loses out of stubbornness and does not listen to reason, while Communist Party senator Karol Cariola called the ruling an act of justice for Chilean families. Independent senator Fabiola Campillai noted that in less than half a year the government has already suffered three defeats at the Chile Constitutional Court, and Socialist senator Juan Luis Castro said that when a family has lost everything, recovering basic services cannot depend on a prior debt: in an emergency, the state must help people get back on their feet, not raise new barriers.

The government moved quickly to limit the damage. Interior Undersecretary Máximo Pavez said the executive will abide by the decision, remarking that rulings are not commented on, they are obeyed. Segpres Minister José García Ruminot, a signatory of the petition, has called the restoration deadlines unworkable during an emergency because they expose workers, while the utility guilds that backed the challenge argued the 24-to-48-hour timelines are impossible to meet. The full reasoning of the Chile Constitutional Court ruling and the individual votes will be published within the constitutional deadline, and Article 31 now stands as one of the few provisions of the mega-reform imposing a direct obligation on companies in favor of users.

Couso and Fontaine urge Kast to withdraw the security reform

The ruling landed as Kast fights on a second front: his constitutional security reform, sent to the Senate in mid-August as the centerpiece of his Agenda Against Organized Crime and Terrorism. The bill would make public security a duty of the state and create a new state of exception for public security lasting 120 days, extendable for another 120, with powers that include intercepting communications without a court order. It needs four-sevenths majorities, 89 votes in the Chamber and 29 in the Senate, that the government does not currently control even within its own coalition: senators Vanessa Kaiser of the National Libertarian Party and Luciano Cruz-Coke of Evópoli have demanded changes, the PDG’s Franco Parisi has ruled out votes for constitutional reforms, and UDI president Guillermo Ramírez has said the text must be fine-tuned.

On August 26, constitutional scholars Javier Couso and Arturo Fontaine used a column in El Mercurio to call on Kast to withdraw the proposal altogether. If the changes to the bill are cosmetic, they wrote, the threat of legal authoritarianism remains standing; if the bill is diluted, there is no point keeping it; and if the aim is only to give a feeling of security, that would amount to constitutional demagoguery. Couso had earlier called the initiative the most dangerous constitutional reform ever attempted in terms of limiting fundamental rights, describing it as a nuclear bomb. Kast, scrambling for votes, has opened the door to changes: Security Minister Martín Arrau says the executive is willing to hear amendments and has ratified adjustments. Kast himself has stressed that his plan against organized crime is broad and much more than a discussion of the constitutional reform, while La Moneda prioritizes some 30 security bills that can pass by ordinary law.

What comes next for the mega-reform and the security push

With the requirement rejected by the Chile Constitutional Court, Article 31 remains in the text and the reconstruction mega-reform can proceed toward promulgation with the free-reconnection guarantee intact. The government still faces three other challenges to the package before the tribunal, two filed by opposition deputies and one by opposition senators, and its plan to soften the reconnection deadlines through a short bill will have to go through the same Congress that inserted the clause in the first place.

For the security reform, the path runs through the Senate’s Constitution, Security and Defense committees, where the government must decide whether to negotiate deep changes, accept a symbolic version or heed the Couso and Fontaine call to start over. Either way, August 25 and 26 crystallized the central problem of Kast’s first months: an executive that keeps losing at the Chile Constitutional Court and struggling to assemble constitutional majorities even among its allies.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

• interferencia.cl
• www.elclarin.cl
• ellibero.cl
• www.elmostrador.cl
• www.elmostrador.cl
• www.resumenlatinoamericano.org

This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error