A group of well-intentioned citizens has set out to push for constitutional reform in 2029. It is a genuine effort, born of exhaustion in the face of suffocating centralism, chronic fiscal waste and the feeling that the Uruguayan State has lost its way. In many ways, their diagnosis is correct: they recognize that the current system rewards irresponsible spending, stifles regional initiative and leaves ordinary citizens unprotected against crime. That drive is valuable and deserves respect. But on other points the approach is wrong. They have included ideas that, although they sound attractive, dilute the real impact of the reform: administrative prohibitions, new supervisory bodies, ethics commissions or detailed regulations that do not
belong to the Constitution.The Magna Carta is not a manual of good governance or a catalog of good intentions. It is the document that sets the limits of power, corrects perverse incentives and protects essential freedoms. Turning it into a list of rules of procedure — banning official cars, regulating travel expenses, limiting advisors or any other daily management measure — is a strategic mistake. Serious countries reserve their supreme rule for substantive issues; administrative matters are resolved by ordinary law or decree. If we don't correct that deviation now, the reform will be diluted, full of ornaments that no one will respect and that will end up being a dead letter. We have the historic opportunity and sufficient citizen support. Let's really assert it, focusing only on what really
changes the game.Only three structural changes need to be included. Nothing more.
First: the fiscal deficit rule with automatic waiver. If Congress approves a deficit budget, all legislators resign immediately and general elections are called in 90 days. No exceptions, no extenuating circumstances, no “force majeure” clauses. This provision aligns incentives like no other. Today, politicians spend more than they collect because the cost is paid tomorrow by the taxpayer, via inflation, debt or future taxes. With this rule, they pay the cost today, in their own skin. Waste ceases to be a comfortable political option and becomes collective suicide. That changes everything.
