The caucus of National Renewal, Evópoli, and independents issued a public statement this Thursday rejecting the insults and disparagements by opposition parliamentarians against ministers of President José Antonio Kast's government, amid a series of clashes that have marked the discussion of the 2027 Budget in the Chamber of Deputies. In the document, the parliamentarians repudiated the "lamentable episodes of insults and disparagements that have become frequent in the Chamber of Deputies," asserting that they are putting on a "sad spectacle" before the citizenry. "We especially reject the repeated insults against ministers of State by some opposition parliamentarians, as well as the constant accusations, which far from constituting political opinions or reasoned arguments, constitute infamous, slanderous, and offensive value judgments against those of us who think differently," they stated. Likewise, they called on members of the ruling coalition "not to respond to this type of provocation" and to safeguard the climate of parliamentary debate, considering the responsibility that comes with being part of the government.
A week marked by clashes
The statement came after several days of controversies during the budget process, with disparagements between ruling and opposition parliamentarians and even a call to order for the Finance Minister, Jorge Quiroz. The latter episode occurred on Monday, when the secretary of state questioned the level of parliamentary debate and stated that "I know that most of you speak for the reel, you speak for social media," which provoked boos from the opposition. The president of the Chamber, Jorge Alessandri (UDI), had to intervene and ask him to refer to the bill and not to the work of the deputies. That same day, a clash between Consuelo Veloso (FA) and Diego Vergara (REP) forced the vice president of the body, Ximena Ossandón (RN), to temporarily suspend the session. The controversy later led to complaints by the Republican caucus before the Ethics Committee.
Tensions continued on Wednesday, when Republican deputy Javiera Rodríguez criticized those who, in her view, have taken upon themselves the defense of human rights, calling them "merchants of others' pain." Her statements provoked a reaction from Lorena Pizarro (PC), who accused her of denialism and recalled that her father was a detainee who disappeared during the dictatorship.
This Thursday, Republican deputy Cristián Araya reignited the controversy during the discussion of the Health budget item, accusing the opposition of politically exploiting the suffering of cancer patients. Despite calls to order from Ossandón, he continued his criticisms and ended up being censured. The intervention angered Diego Schalper (RN), after the ruling coalition committees had agreed to maintain a good climate of debate. In that context, Benjamín Moreno (REP) approached the RN parliamentarian's desk to confront him and had to be restrained by other deputies, while Schalper avoided responding to the confrontation.
Schalper's call
The caucus leader of National Renewal, Evópoli, and independents, Diego Schalper, lamented that disrespect, baseless accusations, and the obstruction of democratic dialogue are becoming customary in the Chamber. "Our conviction is that there is no need to disrespect others to make one's own points of view heard, there is no need to provoke others to generate proactive agendas, and it is not necessary to make confrontation an integral part of our repertoire," he stated. The parliamentarian also criticized the opposition for not granting the unanimity needed to meet in parallel and advance a bill intended to respond to citizens' demands.
Asked about the confrontation with Benjamín Moreno, Schalper avoided deepening the controversy and stated that the exchange should not divert the ruling coalition from its responsibility to push forward the legislative agenda. "Deputy Moreno legitimately raises a point with me, I don't see that there is a controversy, I make it clear to him, and the truth is that it is something we all feel from the ruling coalition, that in the moment the country is in we must be capable of abandoning the logics of confrontation, which in practice only benefit the one who wants to keep the country immobile," he stated. In that sense, he added that "I have no interest in continuing to feed false controversies; rather, we are interested in making clear that our vocation will be to build the necessary bridges so that the government's agendas succeed." Finally, he acknowledged that ruling coalition parliamentarians have also contributed to the deterioration of the debate. "Because here we have all been part of that dynamic, to a greater or lesser degree," he stated, before calling for recovering the ability to reach agreements.