"What a pathetic display!": Ossandón exclaims over new uproar caused by the Republicans as the episode leads to a rupture on the right

So many deputies have now been fined for outbursts during the debate on the 2027 Budget Law — a discussion that began on Monday and will run through Friday — that the Chamber of Deputies' table does not have an exact count. Although there are publicly known cases, such as the confrontations between Consuelo Veloso (Broad Front) and Diego Vergara (Republican), and between Lorena Pizarro (Communist Party) and Javiera Rodríguez (Republican), there were also other reprimands and specific calls to order during the discussions of each budget line. This Thursday, the intervention of another member of President José Antonio Kast's party, deputy Cristián Araya (Republican), once again ignited the debate by making new accusations that the opposition was profiting, through public funding, from causes of high public sensitivity. His statements, made while the Health Ministry's budget line was being discussed, not only irritated the left-wing benches but also generated annoyance and discomfort among right-wing legislators, particularly the Chamber's vice president, Ximena Ossandón (National Renewal), who was chairing the debate at that moment. In his speech, Araya (Republican) questioned the opposition's criticism of health management under Minister May Chomali. "Yesterday, Deputy Rodríguez denounced with utmost clarity the human rights business. Today I want to denounce the political business of another pain, that of the sick, particularly those suffering from cancer," said the Republican. From the other side of the chamber, opposition legislators began shouting at him: "Corrupt!" among other insults. Seeing the situation escalate, Ossandón asked him to watch his tone. However, Araya continued with his accusations. "Those who turn this suffering into a political weapon are true speculators of pain, merchants of anguish, and vultures of misfortune," said the legislator. "I call you to order," the Chamber's vice president told him, which is equivalent to a fine. However, seeing that the Republican did not stop, Ossandón escalated the sanction: "Deputy Araya, you are censured, regrettably." "You can go cry to FIFA," the Republican legislator concluded his heated intervention. Unaware that his microphone was still on, a heartfelt exclamation from Deputy Ossandón could be heard on the broadcast: "How pathetic!" Because of that remark, Araya announced minutes later that he would take the Chamber's vice president to the Ethics Committee. "Your disparaging remarks, taking advantage of the position you hold, are unacceptable," the Republican said on social media. However, that episode also had immediate repercussions in the chamber, which could even have affected the vote on the Budget Law. National Renewal caucus leader Diego Schalper complained in the chamber about the tone of the speeches from the President Kast's own party. In response, deputy Benjamín Moreno, head of the Republican committee, stood up and went to Schalper's desk. Some interpreted that abrupt movement as an attempted aggression, a version denied by those involved. Even so, some legislators feared the worst and jumped from their seats to prevent the situation from escalating. Deputy Juan Marcelo Valenzuela (PDG) even embraced Moreno to hold him by the waist. Zandra Parisi (PDG) also maternally took the Republican's hands to try to calm him down. Other legislators, however, were also egging him on. Eduardo Cretton (UDI), who has had public differences with the National Renewal committee's leader, made a gesture at Moreno, striking his fist against the palm of his other hand. Nevertheless, none of what was feared happened. Moreno simply wanted to prevent the Araya incident from leading to a committee meeting. In any case, on that occasion Schalper reiterated to him that they had to end the provocations. In fact, as a sign of displeasure over the episodes involving Republicans, the National Renewal deputies left the chamber en masse, just as the vote on the Health budget line was beginning. However, they returned to vote, allowing its approval. After the incidents, Schalper himself tried to downplay the episode, even though the matter will continue with a case in the Ethics Committee. "Deputy Moreno legitimately raised a point with me; I don't see that there is a controversy, I point it out to him, and the truth is that it is something we all feel from the government side: given the state the country is in, we must be capable of abandoning the logics of confrontation," he said.