Although it is not the first time that the socialist senator Fidel Espinoza has attacked Approved Dignity, this time, for the Broad Front (FA), he exceeded the limits. So much so that the three party presidents of the conglomerate, together with their heads of bench in the Chamber, sent a letter to the senator and president of the Socialist Party (PS), Paulina Vodanovic, on Friday afternoon. In it they announced that “we will not give up on there being consequences for those who, with their individual behaviors, put our collective project at risk.”
The letter was written as a result of recent statements by the senator, who, after learning of the theft of 23 computers from the Social Development Ministry, publicly demanded the departure of Minister Giorgio Jackson (Revolución Democrática). “They are a network of scoundrels, who have already lost their modesty. Quit, Jackson. You are the leader of the gang and I tell you openly and without fear of your threats (…) ”, he published on social networks.
In the letter, the Frente Amplistas accused that “Mr. Espinoza has far exceeded all limits of respect and seriousness, accusing without any evidence or shame, just as the right has done (…)”. Along these lines, they also stated that his attitude is “extremely irresponsible and damaging to the image of our government.” For the same reason, they requested that the store run by Vodanovic adopt measures. “The parties and their leaders have a key role in the responsible conduct of their militants and leaders, which in no case is about censorship, but about assuming the role that corresponds to us in a democracy: being responsible when exercising spokespersonships on behalf of our positions,” reads the letter, to which La Tercera Sábado had access.
Senator Paulina Vodanovic (PS).
Not satisfied with the text, the FA leaders expressed their annoyance at the meeting that summoned the ruling parties on Friday at noon, at the PS headquarters. There, according to those who were present, the helmsmen of the FA confronted Vodanovic that the senator’s conduct puts the ruling party as a whole at risk.
At the meeting, the president of Revolución Democrática, Senator Juan Ignacio Latorre, explained that they made the decision to write the letter precisely to prevent the issue from escalating through the press.
However, already at the press point, the president of Comunes, Marco Velarde, requested the departure of Espinoza from the government alliance. “Someone has to stop Senator Espinoza’s spirit of constantly hitting the government and its ministers, someone has to take responsibility for what he does and says (…). It is not right for him to continue doing this, nor is it right for him to continue within the government alliance. I hope he leaves the government alliance, because he is not our representative.
Marco Velarde, president of Comunes. Mario Tellez / The Third
Also in a very critical tone, Deputy Tomás Hirsch (Humanist Action) pointed out that “I don’t know what Senator Espinoza’s final objectives are (…). At this point, it’s a bit hard to understand this obsession he has with Minister Jackson. It is an issue more for a psychologist than for politics”.
Consulted in this regard, Senator Vodanovic reaffirmed that “the statements of different representatives of the official parties sometimes cause difficulties among our militancy.” And, in particular about Espinoza, she said that “obviously their statements have bothered the DR, and we have told them that it is not the official position of our party (…). Accusing crimes or serious situations, like the ones he has done, is actually something quite complex that we do not share as a directive.
At the end of the meeting, the president of the PS was also asked if it was possible for the Supreme Court of her party to apply sanctions against the senator. Vodanovic responded that said body is autonomous. However, he slipped that “I understand that he has received a complaint and (the court) will rule on that when appropriate.”
According to sources familiar with said complaint, the Supreme Court examined the complaint, but determined that it should not be addressed by them, but by the political commission of the PS. For this reason, the claim will be analyzed by that instance in the session that will be held this Monday.
Vodanovic -in any case- tried to counteract the onslaught of the FA and retorted that “the words of the deputy (Maite) Orsini to the PS have bothered him, because he makes accusations to the entire party that we do not share.”
On Thursday, in La Moneda, the deputy stated that “the PS has to take responsibility for what its spokespersons say to public opinion, and it cannot be that for free and at no cost to either the senator or the PS, these mistreatments that really respond to political violence continue to happen.”
The meeting at the PS headquarters also served for the alliance to reaffirm its purpose of holding a new pro-government conclave. This time, focused on the parties and their parliamentarians, with the aim of coordinating in the face of upcoming legislative challenges -such as the pension reform-, in addition to trying to improve relations within the communities, which were left on an even worse footing after some parties were excluded from a meeting in the department of the vice president, Carolina Tohá.
The date of the event, according to Vodanovic, could be August 12 or 19.
The president of the PPD, Natalia Piergentili, added that the instance will serve to “talk with time, in confidence and with discretion to have a sincere dialogue on the challenges of coexistence of the government alliance. But, above all, about the challenges of the government and our role to be part of its materialization”.
2023-07-22 00:42:32
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