After having declared the issue as being under reflection, finally the UDI bench of deputies announced their rejection of both the fifth withdrawal promoted by parliamentarians, as well as the government’s alternative and limited project, which will give way to discussion in the Chamber of Deputies. Deputies, to then be voted on in parallel.
Five minutes after the session began in the Chamber, at 3:05 p.m., the party announced through deputy Juan Antonio Coloma (UDI) that they will vote against.
“We as UDI are going to fulfill our commitment, mostly we are going to reject the fifth withdrawal of the parliamentarians’ pension funds. We are convinced that it is a bad project, that it generates inflation and inflation is the worst sentence for the popular sectors of the country, that is why we are going to reject this,” Coloma said.
It should be noted that until 3:15 p.m. today, many parties had not yet commented on their position regarding the vote, so the Government had increased its efforts to align the deputies and thus stop the initiative of the fifth withdrawal of the AFP. However, the UDI was the first to announce that it does not support any of these reforms.
“This is thinking about what Minister Marcel himself said when he said that the projects were bad and generated inflation,” Coloma said.
Due to this, the scenario for the fifth withdrawal is difficult, since the initiative requires 93 votes in favor to continue its processing.
Although at this noon there were around 34 votes from pro-government deputies and non-aligned sectors that gave their support, this number required that at least 60 of the 68 opposition deputies (UDI, RN, PRI, Evópoli and Republicans) support the project, but the UDI represents 23 votes, so with the position of the ruling party, the project would fall in the Chamber.
On the other hand, for the alternative and limited project of the government, 78 preferences are needed, so there would still be hope for the Executive, although there are still pronouncements to clarify and that will be seen in the session of the room.
Parallel to the rejection presented by this party, the government also submitted a constitutional reform to Congress to guarantee that pension funds cannot be expropriated by law. This measure that they took from La Moneda symbolizes a commitment on the part of the current administration in the face of the concern of the opposition parliamentarians.
“We have committed it to a sector of Parliament that was concerned about that possibility and, for greater peace of mind, that is going to be entered today. We would be fulfilling as a government and we hope that they, who have requested this measure, also keep their word, ”said the government spokesperson, Camila Vallejo, this morning when she announced the measure.
However, once entered, Coloma assured that as a bench they will also present indications, “because although it is important to ensure inexpropriation, we want the heritability of pension funds to remain in express text,” he said.
