This Thursday, January 19, the Chamber of Deputies and Deputies will vote on the constitutional accusation against the Minister of Social Development, Giorgio Jackson. The Republican Party accuses the Secretary of State of failing in the duty of supervision with respect to the National Corporation for Indigenous Development (Conadi), seriously infringing the Constitution and the laws, and violating the principle of administrative probity, with alleged pressure on the ex-seremi of the portfolio, Patricia Hidalgo. In his defense, the government authority announced that it will invoke the previous question so that the accusation is dismissed, without discussing its merits.
In this regard, Minister Jackson stated that “we have the arguments available, the public will be able to see how this is an accusation that lacks a legal basis and that at least we, having fully reviewed it and having listened to the different experts who presented in committee, we are very convinced of the underlying arguments (…). At least we have tried to ensure that none (of the parliamentarians) does not have these arguments before them.”
According to the Constitutional Organic Law (LOC) of Congress, before the Lower House begins the debate this Thursday, “the affected party may deduce, orally or in writing, the prior question that the accusation does not meet the requirements that the Political Constitution states”. Once the previous question has been discussed, the Chamber will decide on the matter by a simple majority of the deputies present, after hearing the members of the review commission. If said preliminary question is approved, the accusation will be considered as not filed, an argument to which the Government appeals to prevent the libel from advancing in the National Congress. If it is rejected, however, the accusation continues its course, knowing the merits of it.
In this context, on Tuesday there was a new batch of hearings in front of the review commission –whose composition is mostly pro-government– and that this Wednesday a report must be dispatched to the Chamber that in any case is not binding with the process of dismissal of the government authority. It is worth mentioning that said instance is chaired by Clara Sagardia (IND-CS) and made up of Karol Cariola (PC), Ericka Ñanco (RD), Joaquín Lavín León (UDI) and Bernardo Berger (RN). In this context, the libel only requires a simple majority of those present in the Chamber to be approved by the Chamber. If this happens, it would go to the Senate, which is constituted as a jury to resolve the matter, by means of a two-thirds vote.
In the run-up to the important vote, Minister Giorgio Jackson himself, who belongs to the iron circle of President Gabriel Boric, has been in charge of leading the efforts to prevent the accusation from getting the necessary support to advance this week, since from the Ministry of Social Development warn that in the Senate the panorama would be much more complex, assuming that, during his time at Segpres, Jackson made several enemies. That is why since Monday the Secretary of State has held several meetings, such as with Senator Gastón Saavedra (PS) and the head of the DC bench, Deputy Eric Aedo. In addition, sources close to La Moneda detailed that, during the last hours, Minister Jackson has also maintained telephone contact with other parliamentarians.
The one who has also been deployed in defense of the government authority is the Minister of the Segpres, Ana Lya Uriarte, who has been present since Monday in the National Congress, in the company of a part of the team from the Ministry of Social Development and the Jackson’s defense attorney, Claudia Sarmiento. In this regard, Minister Uriarte said yesterday, in conversation with Radio Cooperative, which “is not only dismissing him, but leaving him for five years in a kind of banishment from public activity. It seems to me that it is excessive (…). The Republican Party in this accusation acts more from a political perspective, divergent from that of the Government, much more than from a legal and objective point of view ”, he maintained.
In this line, yesterday the head of the bench of deputies and deputies of the Socialist Party, Marcos Ilabaca, came out in defense of the accused Secretary of State in a particular way, stating that “one could accuse Minister Jackson of anything, it can be very arrogant and very haughty, but being arrogant and very haughty is not a sufficient argument to be able to generate a constitutional accusation of these characteristics (…) These accusations are not a method to collect past accounts or to sanction a person for being arrogant; It is a political trial of a minister, where it is evaluated whether he has abandoned his function or has infringed constitutional norms”.
But beyond the criticism of the hypothetical instrumentalization of the libel to obtain political advantage, against one of the ministers protected by the President, in the ruling party they are aware of their minority status in the Chamber of the Chamber, and they bet on the issue as the main strategy, in addition to the dismissal of some opposition deputies, understanding that the relationship between Chile Vamos and the Republican Party is in its worst state, after the support of some of its parliamentarians for the political agreement that gave way to the new process constituent. In hypothetical terms, the ruling party has 65 deputies, without considering independents, such as Carlos Bianchi and Andrés Jouannet, associated with government benches.
Uncertainty in the opposition
Currently, the forces declared in opposition to the Government add up to 70 deputies, a number that is close to the absolute majority of the Chamber – that is, 78 of 155 legislators. The opposition group includes the Chile Vamos committees (23 UDI, 22 RN and 4 Evópoli), the Republicans (13 seats), the ex-PDG (3 legislators), the deputy Sara Concha (Christian Conservative Party) and the independent Gonzalo de la Carrera, Gloria Naveillán, Enrique Lee and Francesa Muñoz (ex-RN). If the four members of the PDG-independent subcommittee –so far in favor of the libel– are added to that hypothetical floor, only four votes would be missing to ensure a majority to accuse Minister Jackson.
While the parliamentarians of the “Independientes y Social Cristiano” bench (7 votes) yesterday ratified their vote in favor of the accusation against the Secretary of State, there are still doubts about how the four members of the United Democratic Center (CDU) committee will vote, as well as as the five deputies of the Christian Democrats. Precisely, the deputy and head of the Falangist bench, Eric Aedo, without advancing the content of his vote, admitted that as a party they do not lose sight of the fact that, faced with this accusation, the political instability of the country could increase, and he assured that, Within the efforts that the Government should make to prevent the libel from advancing to the Senate, a change of cabinet could be considered, “to remove the minister to reduce the pressure on him.”
Regarding this point, there are several pro-government voices, and even former right-wing parliamentarians, who warn about the possibility that said accusation against Minister Jackson hides a mechanism of pressure on the Executive, to push for a change of cabinet even before the legislative recess, scheduled for next February. In this sense, the former deputy for National Renewal and one of the founders of Evópoli, Pedro Browne, maintained that “the constitutional accusations have been completely distorted for a long time and today they are a mechanism to force cabinet changes, leading us to a de facto parliamentarianism. That said, I still can’t find an argument that justifies the accusation against Giorgio Jackson.”
In this context, in the opposition they warn that, by only needing a circumstantial majority present in the Chamber for the libel to be approved and sent to the Senate, it is likely that even fewer votes will be required to fulfill said task, despite the fact that the Coordination between the opposition forces seems to be the main stumbling block today. In this sense, all eyes are on the National Renewal bench – the second largest in the Chamber, made up of 22 deputies and deputies –, from where voices critical of the accusation against Minister Jackson have begun to emerge. Precisely, the official strategy at this time is aimed at getting Renovación Nacional – or a part of its bench – off the hook with respect to the offensive of the Republican Party.
In this way, the Chile Vamos party has become the key and decisive factor in determining the fate of the constitutional accusation against the head of the Social Development portfolio, and it is likely that, despite the fact that as a bench they make a decision in together, some of their votes are in favor of the Secretary of State. However, from the UDI and the Republican Party they warn that it would not be “free” for RN to act out of line with respect to the other opposition forces and that, in addition, in the event that said group distances itself from the libel, suspicions about a hypothetical agreement with President Gabriel Boric to nominate Ángel Valencia as National Prosecutor, in exchange for lowering the charges against Giorgio Jackson and the former Minister of Justice, Marcela Ríos.
However, despite the attempts of Minister Jackson, the National Renewal bench announced Tuesday that it will reject the previous question, in order to know the merits of the accusation filed by the Republican Party. Deputy Andrés Longton pointed out in this regard that “we defined a position of the bench to advance to the bottom of the constitutional accusation. That is, reject the previous question to know the substance. We believe that it is appropriate by virtue of, in the different chapters, knowing the foundation in the Chamber regarding that. Listen to the defense to be able to form an opinion and see how we are going to vote in the background, ”he explained.
But the truth is that while some RN deputies, like Diego Schalper, were in favor of the accusation, others, like Eduardo Durán, openly expressed their opposite position, raising a series of doubts that cause discomfort among the opposition hosts. “His time in Congress left much to be desired (as a parliamentarian and Secretary General of the Presidency). However, for me, these are not sufficient reasons to support, in principle, a constitutional accusation against Minister Jackson, despite having had a destructive attitude against the Government of President Piñera as a deputy,” said parliamentarian Durán.
Although the National Renewal bench –which includes some independent deputies related to said party– doubts persist regarding whether or not to support the libel against Jackson, a meeting held on Tuesday afternoon and which included a presentation of the Deputy Bernardo Berger about his work in the review commission, could be decisive in his decision, prior to the vote this Thursday. But an eventual denial of the RN from said accusation could cause an unexpected triumph for the Government, since the Republican Party has already warned that said action could cause its bench to subtract from the libel against the former Minister of Justice, Marcela Ríos. That is why the National Renovation factor is so important and, naturally, at La Moneda they know it.
