Two days before the end of his government, the President Sebastian Pinera gave the last national chain of his administration. In his speech, he reviewed the main milestones of his mandate, highlighting the social outbreak and the pandemic, and also criticized the “relentless obstruction” of the opposition, while questioning the decisions being made by the Constitutional Convention.
“We have governed in very difficult times, not only the difficulties of any government, we had to live with the face of adversity,” said the President in his speech.
“The social outbreak of October 2019, the irrational wave of destructive violence that spread throughout our territory, the political crisis and the demand for a new Social Pact, the worst health crisis in the last 100 years, the biggest recession in the world economy in the last 60 years and, also, the worst drought in our history,” he added.
He also said that the “wave of violence” left “many wounded and injured, but the most painful was the loss of human life.” The President pointed out that they faced this “violence” with “all the instruments of the Rule of Law, including the State of Constitutional Exception, always seeking to reconcile public order and citizen security with respect for the freedoms and human rights of all “.
Pandemic
Regarding the coronavirus pandemic, which has been in our country for nearly two years, Piñera pointed out that the “social crisis is addressed by building a Social Protection Network very quickly, which managed to bring relief to more than 17 million compatriots and helped more than 1 million SMEs”.
“We are aware of the criticism, of not having been able to reach everyone on time and, of course, we feel and regret the difficulties experienced by so many Chilean families,” he added.
Likewise, he revealed that “in a few weeks we had to build a database that did not exist, which would allow us to reach 15 million citizens who had never before received a transfer from the State or a direct transfer from the State.”
Along these lines, he emphasized the deployment of BancoEstado, the creation of the Digital Hospital, the Virtual Police Station, and the establishment of a virtual social protection network.
Criticism of the opposition and the Convention
Piñera pointed out that, unlike the 27F earthquake, “the adversities of recent times have generated division and confrontation, and we all know that strength is in unity and that a divided house cannot prevail.”
“Beyond our errors or shortcomings, which there were, the Government’s action found on too many occasions an implacable obstruction of a part of the opposition and, also, many times, criticism that seemed unfair to us because they did not consider the difficulties of the moment” , Held.
“I am concerned about the serious and accelerated deterioration in the quality of our politics and the belligerent attitude of some sectors,” he added.
The head of state was also critical of the Constitutional Convention. “We have spent 40 years confronting and dividing ourselves over the 1980 Constitution. We do not want to spend the next 40 years confronting and dividing ourselves over the new Constitution,” he reflected.
“In wise countries, the Constitutions are the great framework of unity, stability, and projection, and to achieve this framework, broad and solid agreements are required so that the Constitution is recognized and respected by all,” he continued.
“I am concerned about the excessive refoundational and identity eagerness of broad sectors of the Constitutional Convention. Chile was not born with this Convention, Chile has a history and our Nation is much more than the sum of its parts,” he added.
