By 74 votes in favour, 63 against and 2 abstentions, the Chamber of Deputies rejected the draft “critical infrastructure”, one of the initiatives that was in the petitions of the truckers of the National Confederation of Cargo Transport (CNTC) who starred in a recent stoppage of activities in the country in the middle of the pandemic.
The project, which was defended in the Chamber by Defense Minister Mario Desbordes, required 93 votes for approval. But by not reaching the necessary quorum, he must now move on to the Joint Committee, as it had previously been approved by the Senate.
The initiative was part of the agenda of 13 bills demanded by the truckers’ organization that leads the former immigrant of The Presidential Command of Sebastián Piñera, Sergio Pérez, in his unemployment that reached spread for seven days.
Constitutional reform grants the President of the Republic the power to decree that the Armed Forces may safeguard critical infrastructure if indicated, without affecting or restricting the rights and guarantees established by the Political Constitution.
The initiative seeks to take care of critical infrastructure, i.e. basic services and people working there, when threatened in serious danger, in the view of the President of the Republic. This should be done by means of a declaration founded for a maximum period of 30 days. If it were decided to extend this period, the National Congress should consider the measure.
In the discussion, DC Deputy Gabriel Ascencio voted against the project arguing that “I do not want to hand over any more legal instruments for the control of public order to a government that has abused the tools in force today, violating human rights.”
For her part, Communist MEP Carmen Hertz pointed to pressure from the CNTC that installed this debate, confirming privileged treatment by the Executive.
“The one that we are meeting today shows the extreme weakness in the face of the illegal pressure of a minority group whose behaviors have been bordered by sedition, such as the CNTC and demonstrates how this government without any tapujoy continues to grant them privileged treatment, violating essential constitutional principles such as Equality before the Law,” said the Member, for whom this project is a setback that seeks to reinstall the government’s thesis of the “internal enemy.”
From the UDI, MP Sergio Bobadilla accused that the “ultra left, which controls the opposition, has just left all the critical infrastructure of the country unsyged by the Armed Forces. He rejects the project and wants his violence to do real harm to our country.”
