The government spokesman, Jaime Bellolio, again referred to the equal marriage project – to which the government placed great urgency last week, unleashing tension within the ruling coalition – and said that he is “sure” that when the initiative is discussed in the Chamber of Deputies “a good part of Chile Vamos is also going to approve it.”
In conversation with Radio Agriculture, the minister referred to the high citizen support for this issue, according to the latest polls.
“This was done absolutely on the basis of conviction. I am a center-right person. In the past I also had doubts about it and I know that many people in Chile have evolved in this. As I am a center-right person, I like freedom, I have always defended human dignity, I believe in the family as a central entity of what happens in the country, I want the protection of children and adolescents and I believe that there is a value public in safeguarding effective unions and ties that are lasting ”, he explained.
Asked about the possible costs for the presidential candidacy of Joaquín Lavín -who said he was in favor of a Civil Union Agreement that has a legal status equal to that of civil marriage- Bellolio assured that “I do not see that it has costs in that sense” and explained that “What the President has done is to put urgency on the project that had been going on for a long time (in Congress), in the logic of this protection of the family”.
“It’s funny because some people when we make decisions that are unpopular they tell us ‘you don’t listen to the people’ and when we make decisions that are majority in the polls they tell us ‘hey that’s because of the poll.’ No, both are wrong. This is deeply done out of conviction, ”the minister insisted.
The spokesperson also said that he hopes that “the tension that has been evident in Chile Vamos will decrease because the political action of a party from Chile Vamos, the UDI, RN, whoever, cannot be limited exclusively to equal marriage.”
“We want this to progress, hopefully without setbacks, and I am sure that when it reaches the Chamber of Deputies there will be a good part of Chile. We will also approve it.”, He concluded.
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