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LatinNews Daily - 07 January 2021

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CHILE: Cabinet reshuffle as ministers become candidates

On 6 January, Chile’s President Sebastián Piñera announced yet another series of changes to his cabinet, as two ministers stepped down so as to be able to run as candidates in the 11 April election for the constituent convention which will be tasked with drafting a new constitution.

Analysis:

Ministerial departures had been widely expected this week, as the 11 January deadline to register as a candidate in the election for the constituent convention approaches. Seeking to present lists with well-known names, the parties which form the ruling right-of-centre Chile Vamos coalition had reportedly been putting pressure on their members in government to resign in order to run for the constituent assembly. With yesterday’s announcement coming so soon after the previous cabinet reshuffle – on 18 December 2020 Piñera replaced his defence minister Mario Desbordes and the president of state-run bank Banco Estado Sebastián Sichel – the opposition has, however, seized on the latest ministerial changes as yet a further sign of the Piñera executive’s weakness.

  • Putting paid to several days of speculation, Piñera yesterday announced that the secretary general to the presidency (Segpres, responsible for the executive’s relationship with the legislature), Cristián Monckeberg, and the agriculture minister, Antonio Walker, were leaving government. They are expected to register as constituent convention candidates for their respective parties, Renovación Nacional (RN) and Evópoli.   
  • Several lower-ranking government officials have also resigned this week for the same reason, including the undersecretaries for childhood, fishing, and mining.
  • “We know that some of the ministers and undersecretaries, whose resignations I have accepted, will face electoral challenges related to the constituent convention”, Piñera said during the ceremony marking the cabinet changes yesterday.
  • Members of RN and Evópoli welcomed the latest changes, but the reaction from the opposition was unenthusiastic. “This is a government that is very weak, and I think this cabinet reshuffle weakens it even further”, Iván Flores, a deputy for the opposition Partido Demócrata Cristiano (PDC), said.

Looking Ahead: The Segpres’ number two, Juan José Ossa, has been appointed to replace Monckeberg, while María Emilia Undurraga is the new agriculture minister.

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