Sebastián Piñera is going through a new crisis due to his attempt to block the third withdrawal of private pension funds in Chile

Chilean President Sebastián Piñera is going through a new crisis, the latter generated by his government’s intention to block the bill for a third early withdrawal of pension funds in order to mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic.

The discontent that the decision has generated is added to the already tense social situation which has manifested itself in protests, cacerolazos, riots and a national strike that already has a date.

Less than a year after the end of his mandate, the president – who was in check during the social epidemic of October 2019 – He now faces the possibility of being the recipient of a constitutional indictment for his intention to block the withdrawal of pension funds.

Specific, the project aims for the third time members of the private pension system to be able to withdraw up to 10% of their funds on an exceptional basis.

However, this possibility – which has already obtained the approval of the legislative power – has been described by the government as “bad public policy” and, after days of warning, he sent a motion to the Constitutional Court (TC) on Tuesday to define his future.

The fulfilled threat from La Moneda has catalyzed protests across the country. In the last three days there have been cacerolazos, erection of barricades, attacks on police stations, looting and clashes with the police.

Social pressure on the government has intensified so much that the Chilean Port Union has started a work stoppage, while mine workers called for being “prepared” for this possibility. In addition, for a national strike is scheduled for April 30, which was called by the Central Workers’ Unit (CUT). The National Association of Tax Employees (ANEF) and other organizations have confirmed their membership.

As, the International Dockers Council (IDC), the conglomerate that brings together all the dockers in the world, warned that they would block cargoes from Chile in all ports on the planet, by the government’s decision to appeal to the Constitutional Court.

Protests and closure announcements have troubled government waters, which questioned the protests. Home Secretary Juan Francisco Galli said: as authorities “We are subject to the expressions of the citizens” but that “something completely different is the barricade”.

Constitutional charge against Piñera?

After having addressed the request to block the withdrawal of funds to the TC, the opposition gradually formed in the idea of, in the long term, requesting the dismissal of Piñera by a constitutional accusation.

In this process, deputies act as prosecutors and present their reasons, while senators act as jury. When they approve the accusation, The attacker is suspended from his duties and unable to perform public functions for five years.

For that, is that a group of opposition deputies had a deadline until this Friday to present a project of the probable constitutional charge against the president. Other sectors opposed to the government are continuing the dialogue.

Within the government, Minister-Secretary General Juan José Ossa described this initiative as “Political mischief in bad faith.” “We must dialogue and speak to help the Chileans,” he said. Government spokesman Jaime Bellolio assured that it was an “absurd political question”.

Key dates

Next Tuesday is the scheduled day so that the third withdrawal of 10% begins its course at the Constitutional Court. The the report on admission to treatment and the admissibility of the request will be reviewed of unconstitutionality presented by the government.

Once this process has been developed, the court will look at the end result. For this, it has approximately 10 days which can be extended by 10 days from its admissibility. The total duration of the procedure is estimated at one month, if there are no significant delays.

This is the second time the government has come to the TC for a project like this. The first time it was declared unconstitutional thanks to the casting vote of the president of the court, María Luisa Brahm, who is a friend of President Piñera and a historical advisor to his entourage.

During these days, the TC is mired in serious crisis after Brahm was accused of “unlawful break-in” in the offices of the other judges of the TC with officials who would belong to the investigative police (PDI). This sparked a real war between the internal factions of the court, and so far, this conflict has shown no sign of abating.

In addition, Senator Carlos Bianchi will ask this Friday to disqualify Brahm of the TC presidency under the argument of lack of impartiality, alleging that she was Piñera’s advisor during her first term.

Internal failure rumors

The ministers of the so-called “political committee” de La Moneda said in a letter to national media that President Sebastián Piñera’s decision to take the reform of AFP’s third withdrawal to the Constitutional Court had their “unanimous” support. This after being commented on from the corridors of La Moneda that Interior Minister Rodrigo Delgado and Social Development Minister Karla Rubilar reportedly disagreed with the presidential decision. Faced with rumors, the aforementioned company decided to publish a letter which by various representatives was qualified as “bad communication” by the portfolio managers.

“We fully support the decision to present to the TC a requirement for the project that would allow a third withdrawal of retirement savings “, said the Secretaries of State in the letter to the director which was published this Thursday in The third.

In this unusual way, ministers came out to deny “press versions which indicate that there would have been no unanimity in this gravitating definition of government ”.

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