“The reform is not perfect, it can be perfected,” said President Gabriel Boric, quite annoyed, trying to explain what happened on Wednesday after the rejection in the Chamber of Deputies of the idea of legislating the tax reform.
A hard blow to the Executive, which now has two complex paths: wait a year to resubmit the initiative -which delays its social reform program, which requires financing-; or re-enter the project through the Senate, where it requires votes that it does not currently have.
Among the parliamentarians for Ñuble, the majority was inclined to reject the government’s proposal. Only the independent-DC, Felipe Camaño, voted in favor.
“Unfortunately we missed an opportunity, and the loser here is not the government, it is Chile. We can have our differences, different perceptions, but rejecting the idea of legislating is rightly closing the door to all the social demands that exist in our country today. That is why we regret that sectors of the right have closed the door to be able to legislate, ”he said.
The parliamentarian emphasized that “having the option of being able to reject different items, which could undoubtedly be improved; they preferred to finalize the reform, without leaving the door open to legislate, which seems to me irresponsible and enormously petty. With this money it was going to be possible to obtain housing, citizen security, better education and health, etc. Unfortunately, these social aids and programs will not be financed, especially the PGU, which would allow all Chileans to have a minimum pension of $250,000. We regret that the right has alienated itself with the most powerful, the richest, to the detriment of those who need it the most, ”he sentenced.
“Responsible” reform
Frank Sauerbaum, representative of RN, highlighted the vote and explained the arguments that supported the rejection of the project. He called on the authorities to talk with the opposition.
“We are very satisfied because the arguments that we have given in the room have convinced a sector that traditionally voted with the Government. This is a clear sign that a new opposition block has been formed that joins when Chile’s interest is threatened. Small businesses and the middle class were threatened by this project. Growth, job creation and good public policies were threatened by an Octobrist and refounding reform. The government has to talk. He sends us to look for a check-list at a table. However, he did not listen to anything that we strongly proposed to him. We call on the government: let’s change the deal. There is an opposition that wants to talk, but if the Government wants to impose its reforms by blood and fire, shamefully offering legislators an endless number of things, -and that we are going to present to the President of the House-, we cannot continue to govern the country with one or two majority votes”, he asserted.
Critóbal Martínez, a UDI deputy, also voted against.
“If we had approved the idea of legislating, as parliamentarians we would only have been able to modify certain margins of the project, but nothing related to tax charges and impositions, because it is an exclusive power of the President of the Republic and we do not have powers. The Government now has the task, as at the beginning, of coming up with a proposal that is efficient, moderate and that allows us to finance social improvements, but not at the expense of Chileans as this reform proposed. As a sector we are going to be open to dialogue, and for now we believe that it is urgent for the Government to present a limited reform, exclusively to finance the increase in the PGU”, he specified.
His colleague from the bench, Marta Bravo, maintained that “with the rejection of this reform, our country will be able to resume the growth it had lost in recent years, and return to the employment rates prior to the social outbreak and the pandemic. If we rejected this project, it was precisely because of the adverse effects that it would generate in employment and in the pockets of middle-class families and the most vulnerable. As we have stated from the beginning, we will be available to discuss and reach agreements on a responsible reform over time, and of course we all want to finance social reforms, but we want to do it seriously”, she stated.
Sara Concha, independent deputy for Ñuble, meanwhile, also voted against the government’s tax reform.
