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“I am a person used to showing my face. I respect the constitutional accusation as a control body of the actions of the executive ”.
This is how he faced this journey the former Minister of Health, Jaime Mañalich, to the Chamber of Deputies during the session in which The constitutional accusation against him was rejected, 71 in favor and 73 against.
The libel had been presented just a month ago, on September 13 -on the last day of the term established by the Constitution- by a group of parliamentarians of the Frente Amplio, the PC, the PR and the PPD, and he was accused to the former minister of having allegedly infringed the Constitution “by putting the life and health of the population at risk” and by “hiding data and breaches of administrative integrity.”
The prosecution fell after the unchecking of some parliamentarians of the DC and independents, who were not convinced by the arguments presented by Deputy Marcela Hernando (PR), in charge of defending the accusation in the courtroom, abstaining or not voting.
Thus, for example, Pepe Auth (IND), Loreto Carvajal (PPD), Pablo Lorenzini (IND), Fernando Meza (IND), Gabriel Silber (DC), Jaime Tohá (PS), and Daniel Verdessi (DC), abstained . While Pedro Álvarez Salamanca (UDI), Miguel Ángel Calisto (DC), Carlos Abel Jarpa (IND) and Manuel Matta (DC) did not vote.
This was the seventh constitutional accusation promoted by the opposition during Sebastián Piñera’s second term. Of these, six failed due to the division of the bloc and only the libel against the former Minister of the Interior, Andrés Chadwick was approved, condemning him to 5 years without being able to hold public office.
However, the opposition has a new opportunity to redeem itself, since today it also materialized the presentation of an eighth indictment during this period. This time against the current Minister of the Interior, Víctor Pérez.
The day in the Chamber room began with a surprise: the defense of the doctor, led by the lawyer Gabriel Zaliasnik (who also represents him in the criminal court against him carried out by the Public Ministry) He stated that they would not adduce the so-called “preliminary question” of the accusation and would proceed directly to the substantive debate.
This determination prevented the parliamentary members of the Commission that analyzed the origin of the libel, and that recommended that the court reject the accusation after not achieving the necessary quorum, from presenting their arguments before the full Corporation.
This is how the deputy Marcela Hernando (PR), took the floor to deliver a series of data and antecedents in a long exposition, which in his opinion, justified the accusation against the former head of Minsal.
“By virtue of decisions poorly taken or not taken today, we have to mourn the death of thousands of people, many of whom could well have been saved if the minister had taken the appropriate measures at the appropriate times”, said the deputy.
And he added that “I don’t give a damn about the hundreds of elaborate defense arguments (…) I am absolutely convinced that the minister did not fulfill his duty, he did not respect anything or anyone, he did what he wanted and privileged the economy over people’s health. And if I extend the 200 pages of the defense and one to build a large sheet, I will not be able to cover the bodies of the 17,000 deceased, “said the parliamentarian.
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One of the key points of the day happened immediately. Jaime Mañalich took the floor to refer to the accusation, apologizing to the mayors with whom he had public discrepancies.
“I want to acknowledge once again that I am a rough person, I do not work out of sympathy, I am not worried about the votes, I am worried about making the hit. And I want to be humble at this moment so that there is no doubt. Certainly I have made mistakes and I have offended many people during my work and I am sorry that this happened and I am sorry that it happened. And I think especially of the mayors and mayors, because obviously from the first moment they wanted to do the best for their constituencies. And I think of Mayor Cathy Barriga, whom I treated very harshly at the time.I think of Mayor Carter and Codina, who were very active and passionate people. And, I take advantage of finishing my words, sincerely apologizing for those bad times, “said the former minister.
Prior to the day the official deputy, Joaquin Lavin (UDI), had questioned his support for the doctor if he did not apologize to the mayor of Maipú, Cathy Barriga, with whom he is married, for the public appointments that the former minister made him while he was in office. Hence the importance of this intervention by the former Secretary of State.
From there it was the turn of his lawyer, Gabriel Zaliasnik, who took advantage of his intervention to refer to the criminal investigation for the deaths in the pandemic against the former minister and to point his darts at the Public Ministry.
“Dr. Jaime Mañalich has shown his face from day one and took charge of a tough, and why not say it, a virtually impossible task, preparing Chile, leading within our limited capacities, how to face an unknown pandemic. He stood up to the Chileans when this began, and public support for leading the government was minimal, and he always spoke to us with his vehement style and with the truth “said the lawyer.
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In that sense He ruled out that information was hidden during the doctor’s management, delivering information from various emails, statistics and images of data projections of the pandemic and slipped criticism of the action of the National Prosecutor, Jorge Abbott.
“The review committee was asked to quote to the National Prosecutor, Jorge Abbott, to clarify many doubts, to explain why the former minister had not been summoned, why Minister Mañalich was not asked for his version, why they rushed with the accusation before the Supreme Court or the seizure or intrusive measure aimed at obtaining couriers, which could well be requested to some extent from the accused himself. Why didn’t they? Unfortunately, Mr. Abbott excused himself from participating and we do not have those answers today. But there is no doubt that we must express our skepticism towards the conduct displayed by the Public Ministry that have been consistent and consistent with the constitutional accusation “, he indicated.
And Zaliasnik continued: “If this constitutional accusation is accepted, the only true consequence that will follow, because Minister Mañalich resigned four months ago, will be the civic death of citizen Jaime Mañalich. The punitive, revengeful purpose that underlies the accusation is undeniable, it is inescapable ”.
The former minister, meanwhile, listened to the intervention of his lawyer accompanied by the ministers of the Segpres, Cristián Monckeberg; his predecessor in the Health portfolio, Enrique Paris; and the Minister of Social Development, and her friend, Karla Rubilar.
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“Today not only is a former Minister of Health being accused in a Manichean, extemporaneous and improper way for two precarious and fragile chapters, today we are all looking in the mirror as Chileans and wondering if the sacrifice of Dr. Mañalich will exorcise our own demons”Zaliasnik complemented.
To close with that “in the face of history and the evil that the accusers and those who have made the handling of the pandemic a political dispute despite, Dr. Mañalich will be remembered as the doctor who bravely faced an unknown pandemic, protecting the health of millions of compatriots and saving the lives of thousands of Chileans ”.
