Senator Jacqueline van Rysselberghe (UDI) criticized the announcements made by President Sebastián Piñera during the Public Account, in which she placed the emphasis on marriage equality and the increase in resources for the Office of the Ombudsman for Children and the National Institute of Human Rights (INDH).
“I find the speech quite surprising. For the first time we did not know what was going to be raised and I thought that maybe it came with new things for the middle class, which is where the great debt is today, especially in this pandemic, “said the parliamentarian in conversation with Radio ADN.
Van Rysselberghe criticized that “we didn’t see big announcements either in terms of works or infrastructure that could advance. And yet we did see that the agenda was changed for an issue like marriage equality, on which one can agree or not, it is an issue that is open to opinion, but it is certainly not an issue that was on the table today.”
“It is difficult to understand that on an issue that divides, that polarizes, in a country that requires unity, it is put on the table at this moment, there are so many other issues,” he added.
On the other hand, the legislator questioned the increase in resources for institutions such as the Office of the Ombudsman for Children or the INDH, and indicated that she has a “super critical view in general of the work that the Office of the Ombudsman for Children has done, as well as the Human Rights Institute.”
“I think they’ve had a pretty biased job. That the resources are increased more and raised, being that Chile is a rule of law where the courts are independent, no one can say that the prosecutors are managed by the government, that is a barbarity, “argued the former union leader.
“Why not strengthen our courts, instead of creating a human rights prosecutor’s office? It really gives the impression of… I don’t know,” he questioned.
With regard to the Public Account, he maintained that it is “the poorest” and said that the government’s program “has changed course.”
“I think it is difficult, to be fair, that any government could stay the course with the evolution that has been taking place over time. I could not foreshadow the fact that there was a social explosion like the one that occurred or that a pandemic like what we are experiencing would come and last so long,” he said.
Finally, the parliamentarian said that “Chile needs to be able to stand up, strengthen the rule of law, have peace, the people who are having a hard time need a lot of help. There were a lot of sidewalks, sides, to move forward with and I think… I don’t know why they were just communal places and words already spoken.”
