The president of the Senate, Álvaro Elizalde, referred this Sunday to the opinion issued on Friday by the Comptroller General of the Republic, where he warns that the minister of the Segpres, Giorgio Jackson, “did not adjust to the necessary disregard” in the agreement of constitutional reforms signed between the ruling parties.
In this regard, the senator of the Socialist Party (PS) declared in the Zero Tolerance program in CNN that “I have the best opinion of the Comptroller General of the Republic, but I do not share the opinion he issued with respect to Minister Jackson, because the role that corresponds to Segpres is to promote institutional political dialogue with the different actors.”
He also pointed out that “a dialogue was held with the Approval parties, because the Rejection supporters have not had conversations to agree on what they are going to propose to the country” and emphasized that “the call was made to everyone. This dialogue was not carried out in the government, it was carried out in the parties”.
Additionally, Elizalde expressed that “it is of the essence that a political minister promote institutional political dialogue, it is the role that corresponds to him (…) I believe that he has not breached the legality of this matter.”
In relation to the limits of preemption, he was emphatic in pointing out that “public resources cannot be involved in favor of one or another option. The government has the obligation to inform and promote electoral participation, I believe that democratic debate contributes to more people voting in an informed manner and that raises the democratic standard”.
“In a democracy, one issue is taking care of the institutions, but another issue is that there is a legitimate right to have differences with what the autonomous bodies decide,” he added regarding the role played by the Comptroller.
Being a consulate for his relationship with the Segpres minister, the head of the Upper House pointed out that “I have had a good experience working with Minister Jackson in the inter-institutional dialogue that we have developed, with the effect of determining the urgencies and putting table the projects, discuss and approve initiatives that are important”.
On the other hand, he pointed out that “if one looks at the legislative process, the current government has presented and approved more projects than the government of Sebastián Piñera on the same date.”
The proposal for a new Constitution
Twenty days before the plebiscite is held to decide whether to approve or reject the proposed new Constitution on September 4, the PS senator stated that “I learned a long time ago that elections cannot be considered won or lost until the last vote is counted. The important thing is that they display the ideas around the challenge that we have ahead as a society, and how the result of the plebiscite contributes to solving that challenge”.
In the event that the Approval wins, Elizalde pointed out that “it is necessary to comply with the popular mandate, implement the new Constitution through the installation of the corresponding laws, in addition to promoting all those changes and improvements that are necessary to broaden the base of support for the constitutional text, beyond those of us who vote I Approve”.
While, if the Rejection triumphs, the president of the Senate expressed that “the current Constitution, although it is legally in force, is politically and socially repealed. We cannot go from ‘we didn’t see it coming’ to ‘nothing has happened here’. It is required to continue with the constituent process”.
Finally, Elizalde assured that “in the overall assessment of the constitutional text, I am convinced that the Approval is a better starting point.”
