New Chilean government-opposition friction between over pension funds

The Chamber of Deputies of Chile will debate on the second withdrawal of pension funds that heralds a new clash between the legislature and the government, threatening to take the issue to the Constitutional Court.
The project promoted by the deputy of the Humanist Party Pamela Jiles with the support of the entire opposition consists of a constitutional reform that provides for the withdrawal of 10 percent of the savings of members of the Pension Fund Insurers so that thousands of families can face the crisis caused by Covid-19 with their resources.

As with such first withdrawals last July, the government opposes this initiative, claiming this time that some four million people will not be able to access this benefit because, in the first withdrawal, they took out everything they had and that there are other ways of direct help to citizens without having to withdraw their money.

But the opposition assures that since the beginning of the pandemic, the executive measures have been insufficient, late or have left thousands of families out. Therefore it was necessary to resort to this extreme resource to overcome the situation before the loss of their livelihood.

Socialist deputy Maya Fernandez told the press that the government had not provided a solution to many families that have not received any support. The citizens themselves have asked to be able to make a second withdrawal of their pension savings.

Fernandez said she hoped that this Tuesday’s session would have the 93 votes necessary to approve the constitutional reform, with which it would go to the Senate, which would then have the last word.

This possibility exists because right-wing legislators support the proposal as well, as happened the previous time, which accentuated the government’s defeat on that occasion.