Marco Moreno and State of Exception: “Symbolically it would mean the inability of the Government to contain this crisis of order and security”

A couple of weeks ago the parliamentarians began to postulate the need to declare a State of Constitutional Exception in parts of the Metropolitan Region, in particular, in the heart of the capital, the commune of Santiago. That idea did not generate much interest until early Thursday morning when the death of First Corporal Gabriel Palma was confirmed after receiving two bullet wounds to his face. 
Now even among parliamentarians of the ruling party there are those who postulate that it would not be a bad idea to decree a State of Exception, since it has shown positive progress in the north, as the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Vlado Mirosevic, said. Interior Minister Carolina Toha declared: “We do not rule out any kind of tools.”
The political analyst, academic and director of the School of Government and Communications of the Central University, Marco Moreno, argues that the measure of the State of Exception would mean escalating the climate of fear that can be installed in the citizenship and would also imply a difficulty to govern the region.
What is the government’s viability of implementing a state of emergency?
From the practical point of view, they can do it because the parliamentarians, especially opposition who have installed the issue, could put the votes in Parliament. What is clear is that this would mean escalating in the climate of fear that can be installed in the citizenship. We are not in a position to escalate the conflict by decreeing a State of Exception. 
This would imply a difficulty in governing the region from the point of view of public order. That would be a very bad sign about the Government’s ability to deal with these problems.
What is the political effect of applying this measure?
Symbolically, it would mean the government’s inability to contain this crisis of order and security, as is happening in Araucanía or in the north. Then, decreeing a State of Exception in the Metropolitan Region would imply an insufficiency of the Government to be able to process and provide a solution to a problem of public order. Of course, it is a structural problem that will not be solved with transitional measures. Public order and security problems require complex solutions, not simple solutions such as those put forward by the opposition.
What can the government do in the face of this wave of security demands?
-The signal to intervene in 30 communes that have high levels of insecurity is good, that goes in the right direction. The government, by promulgating the law today quickly gives a tool to the police, they are a set of measures that go in that direction and that allow to lower the feeling that the opposition and some media are installing about an ungovernable climate of public order and security in the region.
How do these murders affect the political scene?
What we have seen is a gain for the institution of the Carabineros in terms of political support. Not only the opposition supports them, the government has also squared with the institution. We saw the former presidents at the wake in Cape Palma. These are political signals of support for the institution, which as never before has had a high level of political support. Let’s see if that gets a change in public opinion because it is a polarizing factor just one month before the election of Constitutional Councilors. Obviously, there is an attempt by the opposition here to take advantage of the public order and security situation electorally.
Is it the right’s time before the May 7 elections?
It is the political moment that they are generating. Electoral climate issues to obtain an electoral result that is satisfactory to them. People are going to evaluate, not only are they going to elect councillors, but they are going to evaluate the government in this matter. The agenda of public order and security comes as a ring to the finger of the opposition.

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Original source in Spanish