-It is said that the change of cabinet is organized for March, but some recommend bringing it forward for overcome the episode of pardons, and thus the electoral effect after March is less noticeable. What do you think?
-The change of cabinet is a power of the President, what seems to me much more central is that there is a total coordination of the ruling party with the Government, deploying a social and citizen security agenda. I see in the security agenda an opportunity for the government to resume the offensive after last week. The projects that reached a high consensus at the security table must be taken and must be presented before Congress has a legislative recession in February. The right cannot act opportunistically on this occasion.
– Do you think it is not necessary to wait for the right to sit down again at the security table?
-We have already waited enough time for the right to show availability to sit down and talk again. We can’t wait for Chile Vamos to stop dancing to the music of Republicans. The Government must act based on citizen concerns, not based on what the right wants.
On this issue there is a high consensus with Chile Vamos. You have to start working now. We cannot wait for the legislative recess in February and present the projects in March. A clear signal must be given in the face of violence that is reaching unprecedented levels.
-In the last election of conventional ones it was seen that it did not benefit the right to go on a single list, according to academics it weighed on them to represent the Government. Is it more important to support the President or to achieve a majority of the left in the constituent body?
-It is not enough to build majorities among the left. The important thing is that the transformations that we promote can advance, and for this we also need the center, the progressives and the social actors. The trust of the citizens is key, and a fundamental fact is a single list that accounts for the desire for dialogue and articulation of the ruling party, which must come with programmatic definitions that place a social State of law at the center. The support for the President of the pro-government actors is not demonstrated with words, but with concrete actions. He has called us, firstly, to conform to a government alliance, and secondly, to join a single list.
-How is going on a single list to the election of conventional intertwined with building citizen trust?
-When there are emergencies as important as security and the cost of living, citizens demand to see us work together, building majorities to get support to convert these projects into laws. In moments of political decomposition, fragmented political forces are of no use. For this, the unity of the government alliance is important at all levels, be it in the work of the Executive, as in obtaining a new Constitution that advances towards the social State of law.
-What changes today with respect to the past elections in which the I Approve Dignity and Democratic Socialism coalitions were separated? Both for the constituents and the presidential.
-Now we support a government. This is the government of President Boric, but it is also the government of this alliance made up of Socialismo Democrático and Apruebo Dignidad. We are working to achieve unity, which cannot be achieved overnight. Having a single list is one of the hurdles that we must overcome in order to reaffirm that we are a government alliance. By going on two lists we lose what we have been doing for months.
-It seems that today the tension between the two government coalitions has risen…
-I want to de-dramatize the tension. Politics has democratic deliberation and for this it needs moments of tension. We have had it before and it has only delivered good results. What it does not contribute are statements that only generate noise like those of former senator Guido Girardi.
-It seems that with the recognized untidiness in the process and the announcement of pardons, the focus on the tax and pension reform has been lost.
-It is what the Government put as a priority, and it is the duty of the parties to push and help the Government so that this agenda is deployed in Congress and arouses citizen support. It is evident that in the face of the contingency each coalition may have different opinions and responses, but what is important here is that at the end of the day we support the work of the President, and that criticism of untidyness does not serve to hit for free, but rather to contribute to tomorrow we will have a better performance. Recognizing the untidyness in the case of pardons, responsibilities were assumed, but even the new Minister of Justice reaffirmed that pardoning was fine.
– What do you think that the issue of pardons remains in the news thanks to statements by pro-government leaders?
-When Republicans want to cause institutional damage to democracy by making it useless, disaffected and that does not arouse citizen support, it is very dangerous to appear in that choir. For example, with the support of Chile, we are going to the constitutional accusations. The actors of the ruling party that generate controversy make us lose focus on political deliberation.
-He did not answer me what he thinks about a change of cabinet.
-They are rumors, there is no proposal for a change of cabinet. The threats from the right and the constitutional accusations are not going to distract us from the pension and tax reforms. We have to bet on an agenda of social emergencies and especially around security. That is our north, not the small fight.
