After the extensive voting day that took place on Tuesday, the decision on who would occupy the presidency of the Table of the Constitutional Convention was pending for today followingnoon. And even though the Broad Front -one of the considered “hinge forces” together with the PS within the body- supported throughout Tuesday the letter of the Constituent Social Movements (MSC), Cristina Dorador, this Wednesday she opted for her own standard-bearer, Beatriz Sánchez, in the vote in which a new letter from MSC, María Elisa Quinteros, was finally imposed.
After knowing the victory of Quinteros, From the FA they went out to explain the reasons why they reduced their support for the Social Movements in the decisive choice of this day.
Fernando Atria (ind. RD), following stating that the FA is “happy” with the final result of the elections – in which Gaspar Domínguez (INN) also took office as vice president – he argued that there was a “misintelligence”, because there was an “understanding” that in the first vote on Wednesday -the ninth in total-, each group would support their own letter and then begin to deliver their support to the Social Movements from the second vote of the day . The one that finally did not come to fruition.
“Yesterday we systematically voted, during six votes, for the candidate of Social Movements (Cristina Dorador). We believe that it was important that Social Movements had a space in the conduct of the table. That was achieved today, with a different person (María Elisa Quinteros), but with the same political force, and as part of those conversations, the table was formed in the way it was formed, ”said the constituent for the 10th district.
Asked regarding the reason why they did not support Quinteros in the vote for this day, Atria stressed that “there was a lack of intelligence in the first vote, which was to be a vote in which each one, each group, was going to go separately and the agreement was postponed until the second vote. That was the understanding in which we acted, but we supported the candidacy of Social Movements all day yesterday and then We were determined to do it in the second vote, which did not happen, and since it did not happen, of course, it lends itself to misinterpretations”, He highlighted.
Asked if he considers not belonging to the Convention Board a political failure, Atria said: “No, it is clear that the Board has to account for the plural and diverse conformation of the Convention. We are very happy with the role played by the conventional Jaime Bassa at the first table, and we are sure that this table will play a good role in the second six months and we will be there, supporting it and helping to make that happen ”.
For his part, the conventional Ignacio Achurra joined Atria’s sayings, noting that as a group they are “very happy” for the election of María Elisa Quinteros and that the constituent of Social Movements “has the full backing of the Broad Front.”
“Much has been said regarding the support of the Broad Front for the presidency of the CC of Beatriz Sánchez. The Frente Amplio had the idea of nominating Beatriz for the vice presidency. And that was putting Beatriz at the disposal of a comprehensive agreement. And it was a collective decision. This does not happen because of Beatriz’s personal ambitions, it happens through a collective agreement of the FA ”, he highlighted.
In this sense, he stated that “When we nominated her for the presidency, we did it precisely with the understanding that there was going to be a first round in which the different forces were going to express positions regarding their own leaderships and that in a second vote we were going to find this consensus, in which we had already resolved to vote for María Elisa Quinteros ”.
Reviews from the PC
During the day, the communist constituent Marcos Barraza criticized the Frente Amplio for subtracting its support from Quinteros at the last minute, since, as he indicated, there was a prior agreement in the Approve Dignity coalition.
In statements to Radio Cooperativa, Barraza stressed that “there was a transversal agreement in general to vote for María Luisa Quinteros, the Frente Amplio should be asked why it changed its vote, That is a question that they have to clear before the public opinion ”.
“We as Chile Digno and the Communist Party have supported María Elisa Quinteros from the beginning (…) Other forces did not, I think they did not have the ability to read the sensitivity of the moment,” he said.
Asked regarding possible friction within Approve Dignity following this episode, Barraza stated that “we have the capacity, having precedent of difficulties, to continue working, there are superior interests and the peoples of Chile demand that capacity to generate agreement despite the disagreements or the divergences that may exist ”.