Exactly one week ago, the round of bilateral meetings began between the ministers of the government of Sebastián Piñera and the Secretaries of State designated for the administration of the elected President, Gabriel Boric. On the same day the current Minister of the General Secretariat of the Presidency (Segpres), Juan José Ossamet with who will be his successor in office as of March 11, Deputy Giorgio Jackson (RD).
The meeting addressed, among other things, the relationship between the secretariat and the Constitutional Convention. In fact, at the post-quote press point, Jackson noted: “I have made contact with the president of the Convention (María Elisa Quinteros), with whom we have defined that we are going to have work meetings”, specifying that “voting until late this last week has prevented” the meetings from taking place.
In this scenario, at 5:00 p.m. this Monday, the meeting between jackson -in the company of Macarena Lobos, undersecretary of Segpres- and the board of directors of the Convention, where issues related to the plenary session and the role that the future government will have in the process were discussed. But also regarding the announcement of Rodrigo Rojas Vade, conventional for the 13th district, who assured that “if I am not allowed to resign, I am obliged to resume my functions as conventional”, which would materialize this Tuesday.
The constituent of the former People’s List, announced on September 20 of last year his resignation from the drafting body following the third sunday revealed that he did not suffer from cancer, a disease that he claimed to have for years -covering the period of the social outbreak-. In fact, the revelation also triggered a complaint before the Prosecutor’s Office, which was presented by the then Board of Directors of the Convention headed by Elisa Loncon (Mapuche) and Jaime Bassa (CS).
Rojas Vade’s announcement caused transversal rejection among the constituents, as well as different political figures. Among them, Camila Vallejo, future government spokeswoman, who maintained that “We believe that what has happened with Rojas Vade is outside the limits of ethics.”
Jackson, for his part and following the meeting in the former National Congress, anticipated that the incoming government “is fully prepared for the project that is on the table on Wednesday, in the second instance in the Senate, which allows cessation of office and also of resignationsnot only can it be processed in the Senate now, but Since March 11, the Executive will put immediate discussion on it so that this can be dispatched as quickly as possible.
“We understand that that is also something that should be supported in a transversal way to overcome an episode that, by the way, has brought quite a lot of problems, and this has been stated very forcefully from the table and we are in favor of making this legal and constitutional authorization effective. And processed as quickly as possible, ”he added.
Regarding the work of the Convention itself, he assured that participation in the meeting was mainly for express “our full willingness to facilitate everything that is necessary for this Convention to come to fruitionbut those who have the mandate to carry out the norms that end up building the text of the new Constitution, are the conventional ones”.
More regarding Change of command
In parallel, he pointed out that “some things that came out today have to do with administrative matters, with technical support (…), and all the financial and human resources that may be available (…) I think that the Executive can build a bridge of dialogue to facilitate better conditions here in the Convention”.
For his part, at President of the Convention, María Elisa Quinterosreferred to the expectations of the table with the new administration that will take office on March 11.
“We hope that with the new government the channels of communication will be very fluid, that we can work calmly, calmly, because we are under a lot of pressure. So not having to worry regarding administrative, financial or technical issues, because they are fully covered without us insisting. That is what we expect,” he maintained.
In addition, he explained that potential lines of work were evaluated“because let’s remember that we have little time and we need to make the meetings very executive in order to be able to dedicate ourselves to the mandate that we have, which is to provide a new Constitution to the peoples of Chile.”
The meeting, described as “protocol”, is also part of the internal debate that exists in the incoming administration regarding the relationship with the drafting body.
So far the President-elect, Gabriel Boric, and Jackson have advocated for the autonomy of the hemicycle. However, from the center-right and from the New Social Pact (former Concertación) some leaders have stated that they should lead the process, this in the midst of strong questioning of norms that have already been approved or are under discussion, especially with the proposal that ends the Senate and turns it into a Territorial Council.
The initiative, which proposes fewer powers and a more consultative than decisive character in the generation of laws, generated annoyance in the Socialist Party, allies and figures that will participate in the next government. They even warned that they might not vote on key initiatives for Boric’s mandate in case the Broad Front defends the elimination of the Upper House in the Convention.
