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They have questioned and criticized him from Chile We go for his role, but this week the Minister of the Segpres, Christian MonckebergHe had a break: he managed – together with his colleagues from the Treasury and Labor – to advance an agreement with the ruling coalition to present his own project for a second retirement of 10% pensions. The Secretary of State acknowledges that there have been coordination problems and that he hopes that the bloc’s parliamentarians will remain aligned and reject the opposition’s motion.
You pushed the idea of getting on the second 10% withdrawal issue and it was finally done. Do you take it as an achievement?
I think it is an achievement of the government to have read in a good way what our coalition was promoting and to have changed the strategy to face this debate, it was correct from the President downwards … That turn was important, but to make turns of that kind The will and political decision of the President and the government are required, but also good coordination with the coalition that allows us to better face a debate on these issues that were quite uphill if we continued with the same recipe or repertoire or script.
And isn’t it contradictory to have made a constant discourse that the second retirement is detrimental to pensions and, at the same time, present your own project?
One could find a contradiction straight away, but, more than a contradiction, here is to do things well … The government has done a lot; recognized not only here, but also by the World Bank. The effort that the government has made in terms of social protection is unprecedented. Insufficient it may be, but of what has been done, a significant effort has been made.
And was it not done to avoid the political cost of citizens for staying down on an issue that citizens want?
When you make political decisions, obviously you also have to see the needs of the citizenry, but a good government and a good President do not respond in any way to the needs of the citizenry, but they do so in the correct way and in compliance with the law. .
And how is your relationship with Minister Ignacio Briones? It has transpired that they have had friction to face this issue …
I have an excellent relationship with Minister Briones, we are not one of those who are eating a barbecue together every weekend, but we have an excellent professional relationship, mutual respect and we work very coordinated. Differences between teams, disputes, friction, there will always be, and that is normal, but the next day the page turns and we continue working together.
In Chile Vamos they say that beyond presenting its own project, the government is committed to going to the Constitutional Court for the opposition’s project. Is that so?
The President himself pointed out that the legislative process that is being carried out with the parliamentary motion of the second withdrawal is either resolved in the legislative process correctly or we will enforce the current institutional framework. And how is the current institutional framework enforced? Eventually, going to the Constitutional Court.
Specifically, will they only go to the TC if the opposition project continues to advance?
It is more necessary than ever and the President pointed out, that is why I take his words, to generate precedents that allow setting clear rules to respect the current institutional framework. And one of those precedents or one of the alternatives is to consult or request the TC.
Not settled, then?
We are going to do everything necessary to make it clear that there are certain issues that must advance within the institutional framework and that they must comply with what the Constitution establishes and what the legislative process indicates. And, in our opinion, in this matter it is not being fulfilled.
In your opinion, is it convenient to go to the TC? It was said that you did not agree …
I have absolute conviction personally and as a government that when the rules are broken, everything possible must be done to ensure that they are respected.
On the project of the second withdrawal of the opposition, do you expect that no official parliamentarian will vote in favor?
If we made an effort, starting with the President of the Republic, in the logic of listening to what our parliamentarians were pointing out to us, in what the citizens are proposing, I would wait and for that we are going to work, that if this arises from a coordination with Chile Vamos, have the support of the coalition. We hope that Chile Vamos will advance in our 10% project and put aside that of the opposition.
Can you assure that no official member will be disorderly?
That is what is desirable, what I hope and what we are going to work on, because we understand the effort that is being made within the law and to meet the needs of citizens.
And with regard to the pension reform, it has transpired that the government yielded to the opposition that 6% of the contribution goes to solidarity. Is that so?
There are certain agendas that are very relevant for the government. One is childhood, another migration, pensions. And why they are important, because they are structural changes. Pensions, in our opinion, the system, we must advance in a profound modification and we have every will to advance in it. All efforts are being made in a separate lane, because this is not linked to the withdrawal of 10%, in order to reach a good agreement. This good agreement requires many aspects, but it also requires giving in, that both parties give in in order to have a good pension system. We are working on that.
But has the government already granted that 6% go to solidarity?
Until the minute the conversations and the legislative work in the Labor Commission continue … Give in until it hurts, as stated. Yes, you have to give in until it hurts, but not until you are hurt. There is a phrase that is normally pointed out in this ministry, which was said by Don Edgardo Boeninger: “To the adversaries, you can win or lose, but you cannot humiliate them.” So, exactly the same thing happens in agreements.
Is the government hurt if it delivers 6%?
Nerd. If this is not a problem of 6% here or 6% there, it is to have a good pension reform and for the future. And therefore, be patient, we will come to a good agreement.
And what do you expect from the opposition?
I have the best of relations with the opposition and I have no doubt that they have given good opinions of me. But beyond that, I believe that in many there is courage and a willingness to agree and dialogue. Because being from the opposition is easier than being a government, but in others there has simply not been that willingness to dialogue; rather, stuff things, mud them up, lock them up and not move forward.
You at the beginning spoke of the importance of generating strategies. That is precisely what sectors of the ruling party have questioned you, such as the president of the UDI and the helmsman of Evópoli, who have said that you have been absent. How do you take those criticisms?
Who gets angry at the criticism, he deserved it. So says a historian named Tacitus. For this reason, I do not get very angry with criticism, but I do listen to it, because there is always something that can be taken clean and positive.
Do you think them unfair?
In this position, rather than believing that it is unfair or not, you have to have pig hide, a significant amount of patience and be very methodical. I prefer to listen to criticism, not get angry and correct things that can be corrected and improve what can be improved.
But do you think you lacked strategy?
I think it is a national sport to blame the government for everything, whoever it is. But when you are governing, you govern with the coalition. And lately there is a coordination deficit between what is the coalition and the government, political coordination. And that must be corrected, improved. I believe that everyone has their share of responsibility. This week, I saw very active in seeking a good agreement on these matters in the Senate to the president of the UDI, the head of the bench and in general everyone. What I saw this week, I had not seen in previous weeks, and that is a twist.
Haven’t you thought about throwing out the sponge?
Nerd. In the worst moments of my political life, one is always on the fine line of abandoning everything and continuing to struggle, and I prefer the latter. And I think that in the end, when one makes a diagnosis, it is better to continue on the line of moving forward and achieving goals. I say this in my time as president of RN, where there was the same, criticism, and acid, and the complex. And good results were achieved. From here I think similar.
There was talk that you could be a parliamentary candidate, but you have not resigned. Do you evaluate the option of being a constituent?
I am well focused on the Segpres, it is a very big challenge. And the President is the one who decides the permanence in office. I believe that this political committee still has a lot to do, it still has a lot of rope.
