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The leader of the Chilean Lower House: The right “marks” the constituent dialogues
Santiago de Chile, Dec 2 (EFE) EFE that “the political representatives of rejection are the ones who impose the rhythms of the conversation.” Mirosevic (Arica, 1987) leads, together with his counterpart in the Senate, Álvaro Elizalde, the dialogues for the new constituent route, which the Chilean political forces have held for three months, after the overwhelming rejection of the proposal for a new Constitution in the plebiscite on September 4. “It is very special to be able to be in this role because, for my generation, getting to say that we are going to have a new Constitution made in democracy is probably one of the main political tasks,” he expressed from the garden of the old Congress, in full center of the capital. The deputy, a political scientist by training, says that he feels “optimistic” about the “progress” and “good disposition” in the negotiations: “Although there are still points of disagreement, we all understand that we must get out of the daily fight because we are resolving the next 40 years of Chile”, he maintains. Elected president of the Chamber on November 7, after the communist candidate Karol Cariola did not reach enough support, he was – like her – one of the coordinators of the campaign in favor of the constitutional proposal: “We lost the plebiscite, therefore , we are always in a more difficult situation in negotiations”, he acknowledges. For him, “the important thing is that a good agreement comes out, not that it comes out quickly” and he admits that there is pressure for the new body that drafts the text, the main node of the negotiation, to be mixed, as the opposition wants, instead of to be integrated by 100% of its elected members, as was the Constitutional Convention by decision of 80% of the citizens, who voted for this option in the referendum of October 2020. The parliamentarian and founder of the Liberal Party considers the result of the first valid plebiscite, but warns that they are “reaching an agreement with the other sector of the country and that also means giving in.” “DISPLAY ONLY SERVES TO MAINTAIN THE STATUS QUO” Mirosevic presides over the most fragmented House of democracy, at a time of national and global crisis, with inflation and unemployment skyrocketing and a perception of insecurity at record levels: “I take office at a time of great polarization and a bad atmosphere, but my purpose is to order the Chamber because the country expects from us an attitude that is up to our responsibility”, he points out. According to him, there is a “very belligerent” group of parliamentarians that “generates a serious prestige problem for the institution.” For this reason, one of his priorities is to promote a reform to the regulations of the Chamber to “toughen the economic sanctions of the diet” to those who maintain inappropriate behavior: “The nonsense and chaos only serve to maintain the status quo,” he indicates. . “The conservatives are the happiest with the disorder because it is an argument for not advancing the changes that the country demands,” he adds. Among the preferred topics on his agenda there are also anti-abuse projects, public security, economic reactivation and social emergencies, but he acknowledges that “his heart” is set on the tax and pension reforms that the Government has promised to the country. . “I hope to be as transversal as possible to advance this agenda. I am going to have a sober and Republican role to do good for the institution,” he maintains. “FLAGS RAISED IN THE PAST” Mirosevic assures that he maintains “a very good relationship, of great trust” with the Chilean president, Gabriel Boric, with whom he has already met. Both have several points in common: they were student leaders, they have Croatian descent and they reached the Chamber of Deputies in 2014, where “they forged a great friendship,” he says. “Many of the fights and flags that we raised together in the past, today we have the possibility of achieving them,” adds the liberal, who is going through his third legislative stage, although his first attempt to reach Congress was in 2009 through a coalition of right that that year supported the presidential candidacy of the conservative Sebastián Piñera. The legislator distances himself from the criticism that part of the left-wing conglomerate Frente Amplio, to which Boric belongs and to which he resigned at the end of 2020, has directed at previous administrations, and which has been one of the reasons for conflict in the coalition government, made up of the Frente Amplistas and the traditional center-left. “I was always very careful not to make such lapidary criticism of the (previous) 30 years because you have to be grateful to those who fought against the dictatorship in difficult times. I have tremendous respect for that generation because they fought to return democracy.” , close. Meritxell Freixas (c) EFE Agency