Andrade bets on democratic socialist force between PS, PPD, PR, PL, NT and the FA, but that relates to the PC and the DC

With great fanfare, the announcement of the future cabinet of the President-elect, Gabriel Boric, is expected at the National Museum of Natural History, today at 9:00 a.m. The names tried to keep them in complete secrecy and the check was done until the last day, to avoid testimonial charges, as happened with previous secretaries of state, who lasted only days in their position.
Anyway, names sound, like mario Marcel, president of the Central Bank (BC), who would assume in finance. Yesterday he would have said goodbye to officials of the BC. He was a member of the Socialist Party (PS), which he had to resign to occupy the position in the issuing institute. Maya Fernández, meanwhile – the first socialist to join Boric’s campaign – would arrive at the Defense portfolio, while the second on board the PS, Carlos Montes, would do so in Housing. In the case of the PR, the name of Marcela Hernando was mentioned to assume a portfolio.
Thus, if the above is fulfilled, the PS will have a relevant presence in ministries, and in one of the keys, such as the Treasury. In this scenario, the former president of that store, Osvaldo Andrade, in conversation with El Mostrador, addressed the role that the community will play in the new Government and also in Congress.
Although he said that the relationship of the PS is preferably today with the President-elect, he opted to form a democratic socialist force that includes what was called progressive Convergence (PS, PPD, PR, PL, NT) and the Broad Front, but capable of dialogue with the DC and the PC, and that in Parliament can act as a bench to support the administration that is installed in March.
What will be the contribution of the Socialist Party in the Government of Gabriel Boric and what role do you think it will have?
The Socialist Party took the decision to collaborate without any conditions with the Government. That is what its president said on the first day after, and that implies an active and consistent collaboration with the Government. Consequently, if the President appoints Socialist ministers, the party will be in a position to cooperate with them and we expect the same in the parliamentary caucuses. We are even trying to put together this idea of building democratic socialism, so as to have a larger, more affluent caucus of deputies and senators, who can collaborate with the initiatives of the Government.
There is a discussion of the degree of influence that the Socialist Party can have and there it will depend a lot on the President. When you put the discussion first on this thing of the rings, one or two rings, after the President’s coalition is one and it’s called I Approve Dignity, it’s a pretty sterile discussion, because what matters is the physiognomy that the President wants to give it.
The Socialist Party is a centennial party, which has technical and political cadres, has had a trajectory, has been part of the Government, has given four presidents to Chile, if we count Michelle Bachelet in her two periods. So it is a party that can make an interesting contribution, but it will be the President – and that is why we have proposed that our relationship is essentially with the President – who sets the physiognomy of that relationship.
Now, the government is going to have difficulties, without a doubt. A very relevant one, and perhaps there we can play a very relevant role, is the management of expectations and rigidities with which the new Government assumes the first year of its administration. We have a rather retracted budget, everything indicates that growth is going to be much less significant than what we have had, there will not be the levels of consumption that we have had. So, obviously, there is going to be a situation that is going to be difficult to manage and that is going to objectively require a lot of talent. And in that so far the President has been on a very good footing, but it is clear that we are going to see how this process continues to develop, and I believe that there the PS can play a role.
What will be the role of the Socialist Party in Congress? Can it play a role in communicating Apruebo Dignidad with the rest of the political forces, in the style of a hinge party?
-I think that considering aspirations of this type, when what we have at the head is a Parliament that is quite segmented, with a lot of diversity, I think it can be an ambitious little bit, perhaps excessive. Perhaps, assigning yourself a task can sound very beautiful from the point of view of aesthetics, but very difficult to materialize. I would be more modest in this. If the PS is able to articulate a force of democratic socialism, which will bring together a significant number of senators and a significant number of deputies, I believe that without a doubt it can play a role in articulating the relationship of Parliament, and this important caucus, with the Government.
You will understand that I approve Dignity, which is the coalition of the President, of the 50 senators, has 5. From that base, to think that from there it is going to be articulated, is a bit exaggerated. From that point of view, the PS has 7 senators, the PPD has as many, we can constitute, and the same in the Chamber of Deputies, the PS has 13. The Socialist Party can undoubtedly play a role, now, to be very sincere, suddenly this of assigning itself certain roles in a political moment that is difficult, may sound like a nice voluntarism, but not necessarily be efficient in it. So, I would be more careful, but we must try to do it and I have no doubt about that.
You said the relationship is with President-elect Gabriel Boric. Is there room for there to also be a relationship with Apruebo Dignidad from the PS, more in the long term?
-I believe that in Chile there is a space and you need a democratic socialist force that is very powerful, and that must be built. And I in that democratic socialist force see, of course, the Socialist Party, the PDP, the Radical Party, the Liberal Party, the New Deal, and I also see an important part of the Broad Front, including the President. But I don’t see them all, any more than I see what has come to be called the center-left in its entirety. I believe that this force must have enough identity to relate to both Christian Democracy and the Communist Party, but from an identity of democratic socialism. I think that is a pending task.
Look at how interesting – so that you do not believe that it is only voluntarism what I am proposing – the relationship that has been constituted between the Socialist Collective and the Broad Front in the Constitutional Convention. To the extent that they manage to consolidate, an expectation is generated that from there can be articulated, the work of the Convention can be rationalized and made more efficient. In that experience that is there, both constitute a very relevant political force, which both the right and other sectors in the Convention see as an alternative conversation. That experience, I believe, is a perfectly possible experience to develop within the framework of the country as a whole.
-What are the main difficulties that come for the Government?
-The (next) government has four major problems, apart from the problems that are obvious, such as public security, Araucanía, migrants, growth, employment, which are typical of any government, by the way, with greater presence in recent times. I think he has a problem managing expectations, in relation to the rigidities with which he faces the new period.
Second, it has to resolve political relations in its own coalition. Thirdly, it must have a particularly good relationship with the Constitutional Convention. They are two events that go in parallel, but that are needed and that depend on each other as well, they are not independent. The fourth problem it has is the relationship with Parliament.
Those four things are going to require a lot of political management, a lot of political talent and a lot of political experience. And I believe that the Socialist Party, in each of them, can help a lot.

Original source in Spanish