© Leonardo Rubilar
APRIL 11, 2022/VALPARAISO General view of the Constitution Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, which begins the discussion of the project for the fifth withdrawal of pension funds. PHOTO: LEONARDO RUBILAR CHANDIA/AGENCIAUNO
The government surprised early on Tuesday morning by presenting an “alternative” bill to withdraw in a limited manner and for specific issues, mainly debt payments, 10% of pension funds. The strategy was to be able to slow down, in some way, the progress of the fifth withdrawal of pension savings. And at least so far the Executive’s move is working for him. This is because the Constitution Commission of the Chamber of Deputies rejected the initiative, which obtained five votes in favor, four once morest and one abstention. The constitutional reform, therefore, will now go with a negative report to the Chamber of the Chamber, which has the last word.
In favor were Pamela Jiles, Camila Flores (RN), Marcos Ilabaca (PS), Miguel Ángel Calisto and Leonardo Soto (PS). Against, Gonzalo Winter (Social Convergence), Catalina Pérez, Raúl Leiva (PS), Karol Cariola (PC) and Andrés Longton (RN) abstained.
Thus, the government can breathe a little easier for now, since, on the other hand, the initiative that allows a more limited withdrawal was approved in general in the Labor Commission, where the vote in particular had already begun.
In the discussion, several parliamentarians, especially from the opposition, criticized the government for sending the restricted fund withdrawal project through the Labor Commission and not through the Constitution Commission. In the argumentation of the votes there were calls to advance in a reform to the pension system that gives certainty and that validates the property of the funds. Likewise, there was criticism for the limitation of the rule, which would not give freedom to the users of their funds.
The president of this legislative instance, Karol Cariola (PC), predicted that the project will suffer the same fate in the Chamber of Commerce, where it will now be seen. “In the room, just like here in the commission, you are not going to have the votes,” she said. And he responded to the criticism of Mayor Daniel Jadue, who questioned that the fifth withdrawal did not advance. “Each person is responsible for his statements. Mayor Jadue has the right to have his opinions, I do not share them, the PC caucus made a decision as a caucus to support the project, because otherwise I want to tell him that commercial debts have never been paid to the neighbor or the corner kiosk, they are paid in commercial houses”.
While the deputy Leonardo Soto (PS), who approved the text, argued that “families face the fear of what is coming in economic matters. How do we ensure that no one is left behind? We are available to find the best alternatives. We are open to studying all the options and this project does not provide that option to start debating and looking for alternatives”.
At the end of the session, the Minister of Finance, Mario Marcel, highlighted that “it is the first time in history that a traditional withdrawal project was rejected in the Constitution Commission. This does not mean that the discussion is over. We maintain the concern to ensure that in this process decisions are not made that harm people due to the effects on inflation or access to housing. And he stressed that “we are going to continue explaining the disadvantages of these risks involved in this initiative.”
Marcel also addressed an approach that was made in the commission, especially by the right-wing deputies: in several of the interventions the Executive was summoned to explicitly ensure that the pension funds were not going to be expropriated. “Our program does not contemplate at all an expropriation or reduction of those funds. And given that there are certain political sectors that would like to have an institutional manifestation of these commitments, what Minister Jackson has proposed on behalf of the government is a willingness to present a project with these standards.”
This Wednesday, at a committee meeting, it will be decided when the procedure continues in the Chamber of Deputies.
The turn of the right that seeks to complicate the government
The government hoped that the rejection in the Constitution commission would have been broader, following the presentation of an alternative project. However, surprisingly, the UDI, which has two deputies, did not appear for the vote. One of them, Jorge Alessandri, excused himself for family reasons (which other pro-government legislators attested to), while Gustavo Benavente was intentionally absent, as was the representative of the Republican Party, Luis Sánchez.
The idea of the UDI (which might have replaced Jorge Alessandri, for example) and the Republicans was to let the government express their discomfort with the alternative proposal.
With the absence of the right-wing parliamentarians, the committee’s quorum decreased and put the “fifth withdrawal” at risk of being approved at this stage. However, the vote once morest the socialist Raúl Leiva, one of those who was in suspense and was close to approval, leveled the forces.
Although there were more votes in favor of the fifth withdrawal, the norm requires that the majority of the deputies present. And only five of the 10 that remained in session approved.
In any case, the gesture of annoyance of the right to be absent from the session was picked up by the Minister Secretary General of the Presidency, Giorgio Jackson, who promised to study one of the demands of the right to generate legal safeguards once morest the risk of expropriation of pension funds. “We have a clear and unequivocal vision that individual capitalization funds are not expropriated and are owned by the workers. We have no problem sponsoring or introducing a constitutional reform… It has been a noise that we have always wanted to clear up,” he stated. Shortly following, on CNN, Jackson announced that next week he will submit a project to that effect.
Despite this rejection, the initiative will pass with a negative report to the Chamber of the Chamber, which, in any case, has the last word and can reverse the vote. However, the position of the Broad Front and the PC would subtract votes that were traditionally in favor of previous withdrawals.
A sixth withdrawal?
After the rejection, a group of deputies, led by René Alinco (Ind-PPD) and together with the legislators of the Partido de la Gente, presented a new proposal that seeks a sixth withdrawal of pension funds.
According to what was stated by the deputy of the Partido de la Gente, Rubén Oyarzo, “indeed, deputy René Alinco has just presented a sixth withdrawal in which I, and my deputation, have just signed it.” He argued that “what the Executive presented is very insufficient, very focused and does not reach all Chileans, we want something more globalized.”
