Gabriel Boric lived yesterday his hardest day since he assumed the presidency of Chile in March. Two days after the uncontested rejection of the constitutional project in Sunday's referendum, the leftist president interpreted the message from the polls and carried out a remodeling of his government with deep political depth, turning towards the center.
The inauguration of the new ministers in the Patio de los Cañones of the La Moneda palace could not have been more bitter for the young president, who last December won the elections with almost 56% of the votes and in just six months his index approval rating has dropped to 36%. From the courtyard you could hear the screams of high school students protesting and confronting the police and you could even see and smell the tear gas that the police fired at the youth outside the palace. Quite a paradox for Boric, whose political career was forged as a student leader in demonstrations and street protests.
After the ministerial change, the president himself once again showed his sincerity and recognized the harshness of the moment. “Cabinet changes are always dramatic in Chile and this one has not lacked a dose of it; he had to hurt, and it hurts, but it is necessary. It is perhaps, I think I have no reason to hide it, one of the most politically difficult moments that I have had to face, "said Boric.
Among other changes, the president resigned from two of his closest collaborators and friends, Izkia Siches and Giorgio Jackson, who like him were also student leaders and who until yesterday were part of the so-called political committee of ministers, the iron circle that in meetings weekly marks the Government's strategy.
In addition, Siches occupied the Interior, the most important portfolio of the Executive, since in practice it is equivalent to the vice presidency when the president leaves the country. And Jackson was the Minister of the Presidency. Among other functions, both ministries are in charge of relations with other administrations, political parties and, above all, with Parliament, which must design a new roadmap to prepare another Magna Carta project.
To facilitate understanding with legislators and opposition, Boric sacrifices two members of the government's hardest line and turns towards the center by placing two moderate women, with a lot of experience and close to the former socialist president Michelle Bachelet. Carolina Tohá, former mayor of Santiago and former Bachelet spokesperson, assumes the Interior, while Ana Lya Uriarte, until now number two of Siches, will take over as Presidency. With Tohá, a member of the Party for Democracy, and Uriarte, of the Socialist Party, Boric gives more power in his government to more traditional politics. "We need a new government coordination," Boric said.
Tohá will also be responsible for the security forces and the fight against drug trafficking and rampant common crime, which has already become one of the main concerns of Chileans. And in addition, the new Minister of the Interior will have to face the violent incidents that Mapuche activists constantly carry out in the south of the country; actions that are described as "terrorism" from the right and a good part of the traditional center-left.
On the other hand, while Jackson goes on to head the Ministry of Social Development -away from the political committee-, Siches remains outside the Executive.
Boric wanted to make it clear that he does not renounce "the structural reforms to which we committed ourselves with the people of Chile." "Not one step back," he said, before referring to Sunday's referendum. “The great changes, the ones that last, are those that are not made overnight and that, in order to materialize and be sustained over time, need to be embraced by the great majority,” the president assured.
And in his sincere line, Boric was self-critical: "As an old militant said, being ahead of your time in politics is an elegant way of being wrong." "We must listen to the voice of the people and walk alongside the people," he concluded.
