The Chilean Government said this Monday that it is time to “turn the page” after the constitutional failure in Sunday's plebiscite and asked the opposition to “move forward” in two of its star reforms, the pensions and the fiscal pact, which have been attacked in Parliament for months.
(Also read: How does the Boric government look after the rejection of the new Constitution proposal in Chile?).
“We hope that the result of yesterday is a learning experience, that it involves great reflection by everyone, “a learning to act, to get to work to achieve the necessary agreements regarding pensions and fiscal pact”Government spokesperson Camila Vallejo stated at a press conference.
With a comfortable majority of 55.7%, the option of rejecting a text with a conservative seal, prepared by a body led by the right and the traditional right prevailed in Sunday's plebiscitecompared to 44.2% who chose to approve it.
The option of rejecting the text, which toughened the treatment of irregular migration and opened the door to reviewing the abortion law, was imposed in most of the 16 regions of the country, especially in the capital, Valparaíso (center) and the northern Atacama and Antofagasta, where there was almost 20 points difference.
The result, predicted by all the polls, represents a setback for the right-wing Republican Partywhich had a fundamental weight in the drafting of the new text and aspired to become the hegemonic force of the right.
(Keep reading: Why was boredom decisive in Chile's rejection of a new Constitution?).
For the left and the Government it is a bittersweet triumph because there will not be a third constituent process and they renounce their historical aspiration of replacing the current Constitution. enacted in 1981 during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990) and partially reformed into democracy.
The official spokesperson regretted that not even the first constituent process, which ended in September 2022 with the rejection of a leftist constitutional proposal“Not even this second attempt to replace the Magna Carta managed to “unite Chile” and said that there was a way of doing politics that sought to impose its views on the rest of the country.
“The possibility of having a Constitution made in democracy was lost, we are unfortunately left with the one of 1980, with all its positive reforms, but we could not advance in a new one,” he stressed.
In this sense, Vallejo recalled that the political forces have been “discussing, without specifying” the reforms for months and assured that “it is time for unity to move forward, without excuses.”
“Not only will we resume the legislative process this week regarding pensions, but we also want to present to the country substantive aspects of the fiscal pact,” Vallejo explained.
(We recommend: Chile rejects a second proposal for a new Constitution with 55% of votes).
Last March, the Chamber of Deputies of Chile rejected an ambitious tax reform that sought to raise 3.6% of GDP in four yearswhich was a hard blow for the Government because it intended to finance its social agenda, including the increase in pensions.
After the rejection, the Government reduced its collection goal in six years to 2.7% (close to 8,000 million dollars) and the Minister of Finance, Mario Marcel, began a round of conversations with businessmen and parliamentarians to try to move forward with the fiscal pact incorporating more transversal aspects.
EFE
#Chilean #government #asks #39move #forward39 #fiscal #pact #pension #reform #plebiscite