Upset. That’s how he was Senator Pedro Araya (independent-PPD)following this followingnoon the minister of the Segpres, George Jacksonwas late for a lunch that he had scheduled for 2:00 p.m. with the party’s bench.
In addition to leaving as a sign of annoyance following the former deputy’s delay of an hour, Araya expressed the discomfort of the parliamentarians of the so-called “Democratic Socialism” with the utmost urgency that La Moneda entered the project that establishes the pardon for prisoners of the explosion.
If this had already been made transparent by a statement by the socialist senators – who this morning stated that “things are not done that way, it is not enough to make a project urgent, even more so if that decision is not discussed with the different benches” – , Araya went further and accused that “it is irresponsible”.
Regarding the failed lunch, the senator – who heads the Constitution commission, where the discussion of the initiative took place – accused that “in politics, as well as in life, forms matter. If you have an agreed meeting, which in this case was lunch with Minister Jackson at 2:00 p.m., one expects a minimum of deference and that the minister gives notice well in advance that he is not going to make it to that lunch”.
According to what he said, Jackson arrived an hour later, around 3 in the followingnoon, “which seems to me a lack of respect and irresponsibility”. Araya affirmed that he confronted the minister and then left, “and I did not stay for the meeting since I had a commitment at 3 in the followingnoon and I was not going to commit the same trick of leaving the people with whom I had the meeting waiting.”
Asked later regarding the purpose of the lunch, Araya stated that the idea was to talk regarding the legislative agenda and “obviously” regarding the pardon bill in question.
“That the project is urgent seems correct to me because the Senate cannot continue to avoid a discussion that is important for Chilean society (…) but having said that, it seems to me that what the government did is irresponsible, knowing that this is a very complex project, that they probably do not have the votes of the entire center-left”, said.
“What one would have expected is to know if there is at least a commitment here from the center left to approve the project and what has been done, if there has been talks with right-wing senators, that are needed to approve the project. In that sense, if the government is looking for the project to be rejected, a very complex scenario is being generated,” he added.
Araya stated that, as it stands today, “the project is very complex to be approved given that a good part of the center-left senators have doubts regarding voting in favor of it. And even if they achieve that consensus, votes from senators on the right are needed.”
Thus, he charged that “Probably what the government is betting on is to endorse the responsibility of rejecting a project to the Senate in front of the people, and today they have not done any paperwork for it to be approved”.
Finally, he emphasized that “I cannot understand the extreme urgency that has been placed on this project, and for her part we have not received the Minister of Justice (Marcela Ríos), who might have made a series of proposals on how to improve the pardon project, and that probably with the sponsorship of the Executive might be approved by the Senate room”.
