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First, there were 13 people who crossed the Rubicon when that July 8, the Chamber of Deputies approved with 95 votes in general the initial withdrawal of 10% of the pension funds. On the 23rd of that month, the bill returned from the Senate and there the parliamentarians of Chile Vamos who joined their votes with those of the opposition rose to 35 -16 IDU, 28 RN-, thus reaching 116 and exceeding the 2/3 barrier.
Days later, the crisis in the sector as a result of this collective disorder worsened and the Blumel Cabinet. But yesterday the “converts” broke the previous marks en masse, unleashing recriminations off-mic in the sector: only a minority of 17 deputies and deputies died with their boots on, voting against (plus ex-PPD Pepe Auth).
By contrast, there were five ruling party members who did not vote: two Evópoli, one RN and two UDI. Two more abstained (one UDI and one RN). But what has brought out hives -on one of the many flanks of the crisis in the sector- is that Of the 130 votes in favor that reached the second withdrawal of 10%, there are 48 from RN and UDI deputies, including those who resigned from the latter party when the board tried to punish them by passing them to the Supreme Court for last July.
While the case has unleashed a severe conflict that involves matches, ministers and the President, yesterday was an obligatory comment among those 17 “brave” -as some who continued to reject themselves call themselves- the cases of those who voted against or abstained in July, and who now went over to the side of those who approved in court. There is a dance of reasons, reasons (for some mere excuses). Some read that “They succumbed to bullying and threats”Others who gave in to fear of paying a price in their re-elections to such a popular initiative, and still others who had no choice if the government returned too late.
Beyond that, the drawer question in Chile Vamos is what then does it mean to be a parliamentarian or a government parliamentarian if you are not willing to bear all the costs, considering that there were 17 that did.
Iconic cases attracted attention yesterday on the right, such as the UDI deputy Juan Antonio Coloma, or the RN Diego Schalper -standard bearer of the former Chilean command Let’s go for Rejection-, they will end up voting in favor, while deputy RN Karin Luck, for example, he did it against. Also many look at the RN Paulina Nunez, wife of Minister Segpres, Christian Monckeberg, and those who blame from Evópoli and the unionism: she also voted in favor, although she had already done so in July.
Schalper came a few weeks ago warning that he was going to change his vote. Coloma decided it just this weekend. Neither of them wanted to go out and explain themselves in public. The RN press team replied to La Tercera PM that decided not to answer questions about the topic or comment on it -due to a family situation- and the UDI reserved the right not to reply in quotes. The same path chose the RN Catalina del Real, which in July voted against both times and yesterday approved.
Deputy Núñez did not answer phone calls or messages. Neither does the UDI Osvaldo Urrutia, which this time debuted by voting in favor. It was not possible to know the reasons for the RN Gonzalo Fuenzalida, another that had not done it before. At the time of publishing this note, four agreed to explain what happened to them and what they think.
Deputy RN Thomas Fuentes He was not present for the first retirement because he was not yet a deputy at the time (he was appointed to replace Marcela Sabat, who was appointed senator after Andrés Allamand’s departure for Chancery), “but he probably would have rejected,” he says, and admits that this time “I belatedly decided to vote in favor of the principle, with all the technical evidence that one always gets, for example, the Chilean debt figures ”.
He explains that “when you realize that government policies do not solve the problem for a percentage of the population, you have no other alternative”, and that La Moneda “arrived insufficiently because it cannot continue to cover more product than while the more you get into debt, the more difficult is your future scenario ”. He denies having done so due to electoral fears and claims that President Piñera -who said that this weighed among those who approved- “from what I see he does not talk with his ministers.”
-Being a government deputy also implies being willing to pay costs, don’t you think?
-Yes, but I think they do not do it to assume costs. I think they do it out of conviction. I also had the conviction that the level of indebtedness and the future Chilean scenario is complex to face pensions, I became even more convinced that the current scenario is even more complex to face the present time.
“I do not share (that they have to be assumed). I do not share it because those who rejected yesterday, rejected because they believe that the priority is pensions. And those that we approved, it was because we believe that the first priority today as a result of the Covid is not pensions, now it is to generate employment, job opportunity. So those of yesterday, who rejected, believe that pensions are still a priority and that the government can still do something. Those of us who approve believe that andit is not in the hands of the government to save and recover employment, we believe that it is in the hands of the resources that they can receive quickly “, close.
“I still believe that it is not the correct measure. Here it should have been the State that should have acquiesced to the idea of proposing a different alternative, “says the UDI Sergio Bobadilla, and he says that “I saw the dilemma of actually giving this option to thousands of Chileans who are having a hard time or hoping that the government could throw down a lifeline. And that didn’t happen and that’s why I did it, more than because of an electoral calculation ”.
Add that “I would say that the government was not very late; the government did not come. And I consider that very worrying. There will be around two million more Chileans, apart from those who had already withdrawn their funds, without any weight in their pension funds ”.
-What does it mean for you to be an official deputy, then?
-I feel like a pro-government deputy, but I also have my opinion regarding some matters in which the Government simply has not had an active participation to propose some solutions, and in that sense I do not inhibit myself from voting differently than what could be proposing the Government. I believe that the important thing here is to be respectful of the government’s actions, but we are not always going to share the proposals and measures it is adopting.
-Being a government deputy also implies being willing to pay costs, don’t you think? Why then yesterday there were 17 who did vote against?
– It is necessary to be clear that the order of parties does not exist. We are all free to vote in conscience. What matters is that each one votes conscientiously and in that sense I do not lose myself. The bench continues to be the bench of the UDI, even though we may have different opinions regarding any motion or project. The coexistence in the bench remains exactly the same until before yesterday’s vote.
“Sincerely, with the pain that it causes us who are parliamentarians of the ruling party, The Treasury did not give the importance that this could have and did not deliver any alternative proposal, it did not deliver any solution. One may have different views on this matter, but no, but yes, but really, what cannot happen is that so many people are stigmatized that nowadays they have no way to stand up ”, explains the RN Francisco Eguiguren.
-What does it mean for you to be an official deputy, then?
-What unites us today as government officials is to work tirelessly so that people in Chile have the peace of mind that the government is caring for people in these difficult times and that it will continue to do so. Regardless of the difficulty and drama of this battle.
– Why yesterday there were 17 that yes they voted against?
-They will have to answer for their vote, I answer for mine, but I believe that in general, beyond the differences that may be had in this matter, either in the agreement or the rejection of the new Constitution, which unites us is that common goal that I have just indicated. To work tirelessly so that people really believe and have the certainty that they did not vote in vain for this government and that it was worth it because it was a government that at the end of the day, beyond the tremendous difficulties that it has had to face, he will have played for the people which is what people need.
“The lack of work, the debts that afflict individuals and families, have convinced me on this occasion that a withdrawal of pension funds is transformed into a necessary help to overcome the economic crisis that hits thousands of compatriots due to of the pandemic. That is why I have voted in favor of this initiative, but I hope that it does not become a constant ”, explains the UDI Gastón de Mühlenbrock.
According to him, “as Minister Monckeberg said yesterday, the Government has provided all the aid it has deemed appropriate, and which will always be insufficient.” And that “perhaps an electoral issue has weighed in the opposition, but in my particular case, it has been the I am convinced that this measure gives immediate relief, although I would like it to be otherwise ”.
-What does it mean for you to be an official deputy? It also means being willing to pay costs.
-Any position of popular election involves paying important costs at some point or another, it is part of the rules of the game. But one is not in public service to only be liked, but to represent an important sector that has ordered us to represent them in the National Congress, and that is what motivates me the most, to be the voice of those people who have deposited their trust in me and in the UDI. I may have differences from time to time with the Executive, with other parliamentarians, etc., but my main motivation is to represent the people and contribute to the development and growth of the country, being in the ruling party or from the opposition, as I have been on more than one occasion.
