For many in officialism it was a surprise the departure of the former Minister of Health, Jaime Mañalich, but the truth is that the questions and doubts of whether his person remained the right one to stay in office for some time to date had been becoming more frequent.
While everyone officially scrused to come out to thank for their management and effort leading the pandemic, the various misadventures during the implementation of the strategy had questioned the effectiveness of the government message considering the decline in credibility that his person carried.
Finally, the constant methodological changes for the counting of deaths and contagions, which more than certainties generated many doubts in the different technical bodies, coupled with the attempt to have advanced the “new normal”, to which many from their own sector blame the bad behavior that citizens had in quarantine, ended up exhausting the line of credit of the former general manager of the Las Condes Clinic.
“I deeply regret The resignation of Minister Mañalich in his charge,” said the head of MPs’ bench RN Sebastián Torrealba, who “deeply and heartfully thanked” Mañalich’s efforts throughout this pandemic time. “He did them with one goal: to save lives,” the parliamentarian said, stressing that Chile is in the biggest health crisis in its history, so they ask the new minister, Enrique Paris, to “take the example of Mañalich and play all his cards in favor of saving lives.” “We wish him all the luck in the world in his management,” Said Deputy Torrealba.
Changing the tone a little, via Twitter, the senator – also from RN – Manuel José Ossandón, expressed his joy at the departure of Mañalich. “Good thing the President finally heard that a change in health was needed,” he said, putting his faith in Minsal’s new incumbent Enrique Paris. “I hope it will lead in stemming the progress of covid-19, coupled with transparency, listening and decisions with specialists,” Ossandón added, for whom “citizens need to trust their authorities.”
“From the UDI we are deeply grateful for the tireless work of Minister Mañalich. We know he was permanently attacked and ruthlessly criticized from the left. And it is important to clear any doubt that your departure was not the price to sign the national agreement,” added UDI MEP and head, María José Hoffmann.
The president of Evópoli, Hernán Larraín Matte, was also part of the thanks to the work of Dr. Mañalich, for his “commitment, dedication and courage”. At the same time, Larraín gave the backing of his party – and the collation – to the new health minister, Enrique Paris. “Unity and collaboration is what we need to be able to deal with this pandemic,” he said from home.
“There was no strategy and if there was one it was wrong”
Already in the knowledge of Ciper’s publication, which accused the minsal presenting in Chile smaller figures of deaths than those officially sent to WHO, in the opposition they drafted a cross-sectional letter bringing with it the signatures of the presidents of the different communities crossing from the Broad Front and to the DC, in it, a single thing was asked , the departure of Jaime Mañalich.
Once aware of the third cabinet change in less than two weeks, from the opposition bloc they asked the government to also see a change in the substantive strategy with which the pandemic has been confronted, so they pointed out that it would not be just a cosmetic adjustment.
Senate vice president and health committee member Rabindranath Quinteros said change was an expected change. “We said there was virtually no strategy and if there was one wrong,” he said.
In the PS senator’s view, you cannot try to defeat this pandemic by thinking of “the economicist part.” And he says that what had to be done was to implement, from the outset, “a basic or emergency salary so that families could quarantine their homes. And without the need to go to work. In this country 35% of the country’s mass depends on the day-to-day,” he said.
For his part, the President of the House Health Committee, Mp Ricardo Celis, criticized the minister and health authorities have been “absolutely deaf” and have not listened to mayors, expert groups, or scientific groups. “They’ve had a lot of dissencency with them,” he said.
Juan Luis Castro, deputy of the PS, added in the same tone as the departure of Mañalich seemed inevitable after a total “loss of credibility and a shocking failure in the management of the pandemic”. According to the Socialist parliamentarian, this is very painful for President Piñera, as he “misses his right arm.”
“Can (Paris) resist the pressure of the Government to try to ensure that there are no conditions to deepen this failure? What situation will we see in the prox winter months?” Mr Castro asks himself, who recommends facing these doubts, I hope he is “not alone” and changing the line of President Piñera.
The mistakes that Mañalich made for the opposition during his time in office could cost him dearly. “Nothing can save him from a “Constitutional Indictment,” PS Deputy Fidel Espinoza, former Speaker of the House, said earlier. In his view, Mañalich’s administration “has been the most nefarious thing Chile has had in a ministry,” recalling that in Sebastian Piñera’s first government he “faked waiting lists” and now “death tolls,” the parliamentarian topped with the #RenunciaMañalich hashtag.
“The arrival of Paris will be of little use if there is no change in health policy”
The presidents of the Christian Democracy (DC), the Socialist Party (PS) and the Party for Democracy (PPD) expressed their views on the change in the Minsal. They pointed to Mañalich’s mistakes and gave glimpses of a court scratch for the task of incoming Minister Enrique Paris.
DC President Fuad Chahin set a position and hopes that ministerial adjustment will be accompanied by “a change of style” that seeks collaboration rather than controversy. In this regard, he also noted that there is a need to improve testing, traceability, and people tracking. “Primary care and municipalities must be used as the great ally in combating this pandemic,” he said.
Alvaro Elizalde, president of the PS, said in the same vein that the situation in Mañalich was unsustainable long ago in the face of the “obvious failure of the government’s health strategy”. “Even more so when a controversy has been generated over the official figures of the victims and deaths from this pandemic,” he has dis stigmatied.
“Minister Mañalich had lost the trust of the public, the advisers, the experts, and only had the confidence of the President of the Republic who has now lost due to huge mistakes and an erratic and failed health policy. The arrival of Paris will be of little use if there is no change in health policy,” PPD helmsman Heraldo Muñoz added to the discussion.
“We have the opportunity to open a dialogue”
Claudio Castillo, public health expert, consultant at the World Bank and academic, referred to the change in ministry and stressed that the situation in which we find ourselves is critical. “We are in the midst of the worst health catastrophe in Chile’s history and, in that sense, the change of minister can be an opportunity if it is associated with a change in strategies to contain the transmission of the virus and support primary health care teams with resources and powers to carry out their work,” the expert said.
“With this change we have the opportunity to open a dialogue without preconceived ideas, with proposals from experts in the area. This is an opportunity for new airs for a technical and political dialogue to find a new answer. The new minister will do well if he is open to dialogue and available to listen to everyone and prioritize a strategy based on territorial management of primary health care,” he added.
The former minsal holder, during Bachelet’s government, Helia Molina, valued Dr. Enrique Paris’s entry into the portfolio. According to her, the professional “meets some criteria that could show signs of optimism. He’s a better communicator than Mañalich,” he said.
“The task is complex and I wish you all the best; he has been close to this Government all along and knows with certainty what are the main contributions and changes that the government is willing to face a change in strategy, transparency, projection, listening and contacting people more closely. I hope that change will be for the better,” said Helia Molina, who sees the change with “relative optimism,” as the situation is very serious.
“We are in the part of the highest uphill curve, probably reaching the peak in a month, which means that you have to splinter the incorporation of primary care and many economic resources, which allow people guarantee their human rights to food, roof and shelter. This is a titanic task that requires good management, articulation and coordination, which adds everyone together,” he concluded.
