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The Minister of Finance, Ignacio Briones, criticized the constitutional reform that is being discussed in the Senate to allow a second withdrawal of 10 percent, stating that it creates a “parallel Constitution.”
Briones told The Mercury that “the ultimate objective of pension funds is pensions and these universal withdrawals, at all events, reduce the amount available and compromise the ability to generate better pensions, especially at times when we discuss and want to agree on a pension reform that the best”.
“The underlying issue is that the draft constitutional reform presented by the opposition is creating a parallel constitution that floods the exclusive powers of the President of the Republic through a constitutional ‘shortcut’ that makes a transitory reform that does not talk to the permanent body of the Constitution, “he lashed out.
“Our project -added- vindicates the institutional path and the exclusive powers of the President. It is key to limit this form of legislating, which is infinite; we are already in a second and a third withdrawal is announced, a tax on the ‘super rich’, the postponement of patents. This has reached a dimension that if we do not put a definitive limit on it, we have a major institutional problem“.
Briones defended going to the Constitutional Court if Pamela Jiles’ project prospers because, he said, “respecting our institutional framework, the rules of the game, is fundamental for democracy. Therefore, you have to do the right thing, not what is popular.”
This project, he added, “there is no doubt that It is an extremely popular topic, which crosses all sectors, but because it is popular, it is not good for tomorrow or positive for pensions, we know that there will be great pension damage. Each universal retirement eats up a third of a six-point pension reform, which would allow us to increase pensions. “
The constitutional reform presented by Pamela Jiles and supported by the entire opposition allows a second universal withdrawal of pension funds, without payment of taxes and within a period of 15 days, as agreed by the Senate Constitution commission. The initiative will be voted on this Wednesday in the Senate room in its second legislative process so, if approved, it could become law if the Constitutional Court is bypassed.
The government project, meanwhile, is limited to families who have seen their income diminished during the pandemic, imposes a tax on the highest salaries and sets a 60-day retirement period. This project will enter the Senate this week, in its first legislative process, still missing its passage through the Chamber of Deputies.
