«Our proposal is sensible, reasonable, legally well supported. It does not fall into penal populism. It avoids something that we all want to avoid, which is the easy trigger. We don’t want an easy trigger because we’re going to regret it later.” That sentence, particularly the last part, was the one that became the headline in different media and caused its author, Minister Camila Vallejo, to explain specifically what she was referring to.
Former minister spokesperson Karla Rubilar offered her immediate reaction to social networks asking the minister to “watch her words” and that these statements may cast doubt on how much the government supports the Carabineros or not. Criticism from the right pointed in the same direction. However, Minister Vallejo was referring specifically to the article of the project in which there is talk of a privileged legitimate defense of the uniformed in case they have to use their service weapon.
When the phrase was published, the minister, through Twitter, published four photos with excerpts from the interview to give an understanding of the context in which she used that phrase. Today, in conversation with Meganoticias Alerta, Vallejo, when asked about this phrase, said that “it is always important to read the complete interviews.”
More in detail, the spokes minister explained that from the Executive there is a “commitment to the main ideas of the Naín – Retamal law, but that it needed modifications.” Changes that, due to regulatory issues, could not be made in the Chamber of Deputies and Deputies and that will be sought in the Senate.
The indications that the Executive intends to enter have a lot to do with trying to “avoid a legislation that, although it may have a desirable and noble objective that we share, we can end up wanting to unprotect the police function, unprotect the citizenry,” said the minister. The search for a broad agreement would be the main focus and that dialogue has to lead the process: “Democrats have to be able to find the balance between the security agenda and the human rights agenda.”
That is the central debate that is anticipated in the Senate this week, the legitimate privileged defense. The communist minister assured that the direction of the norm is well focused because “we need better police officers with more preparation and capabilities”, but the key point is in the privileged dense legitimate.
Many deputies from the ruling party have been the focus of criticism after approving the law with the controversial article. The comments have been directed particularly at the PS, since they would be the main endorsements that support a “trigger-friendly” law. The government spokesperson explained that “this is not the case,” because “the socialist caucus, which has been criticized a lot, acted in accordance with the government. No pro-government caucus is seeking the approval of a trigger-happy law.
