“Later there will be an opportunity to talk about cabinet changes that do not have to be dramatic, the changes in the team are precisely to improve our performance. I am not evaluating it for now, it is a decision that we will have after the plebiscite”, said President Gabriel Boric in July when he was asked about the possibility of making changes to the Secretaries of State.
And not 6 months have passed since Boric’s arrival at La Moneda and the departure of his right-hand man and friend, Giorgio Jackson, from the Ministry General Secretariat of the Presidency (Segpres), is a topic that is not only discussed in the corridors of Palace but also in the parliamentary world.
Although his name is not the only one, since the continuity of the Minister of the Interior and Public Security, Izkia Siches, is also analyzed by advisers close to the president. It is clear that the replacement in the Interior has a greater degree of difficulty than the Segpres not only because of what the position means but because of the lack of availability of people to accept it.
In the case of Segpres, the analysis is clear, especially on the second floor, someone with more experience in Congress is required and for this reason the figure of the Minister of Housing Carlos Montes and the Minister of Defense, Maya Fernández, -both militants of the Socialist Party – sound strong to reach the position.
From the parliamentary world, the senator of the same party, John Louis Castro told La Radio that “it seems inevitable that President Boric will make a cabinet change after September 4. There is a lot of speculation and obviously there are places in the political committee that are very sensitive, such as Interior and Segpres”. He explains that he has no way of knowing the magnitude of the change or who will assume it since “it is in the mind of the President and he is right because he is the one who decides. It would be bad to advertise it from the outside”.
But he acknowledges: “The Socialist Party would obviously feel even better represented if it had a role and a person in the political committee.”
For his part, the independent deputy and member of the Radical Party caucus, Andres Jouannet, is critical when referring to Jackson. “He does not know how to reach agreements and therefore naturally has political management problems. Without a doubt, this government requires a change in ministers, but the truth is that what is fundamentally required is a government coalition that has the possibility of governing”.
On behalf of the People’s Party, Deputy Gabriel Rivas, agrees with the analysis by arguing that “in recent months, there has been a lack of connection between the Government and Parliament. This, because the minister in charge of relations between the two powers has not managed to permeate Congress. And that for this “I believe that the entry of a figure with greater negotiating capacity to replace Minister Jackson would be a way to resolve this complication that afflicts the Executive.”
In Chile Vamos the figure of Carlos Montes is widely supported. An example of this is the opinion of the deputy of the UDI, Jorge Alessandri. “Obviously someone who spent 30 years in parliament, was president of the Chamber and the Senate like Carlos Montes, is always a contribution to a ministry that handles relations with parliament. But more than that, it is also recognizing that Democratic Socialism is gaining power and losing I Approve Dignity. (…) Carlos Montes is a tremendous name for any ministry, he is a person who reaches agreements and is a person used to talking. Jackson has spoken little.”
Along the same lines, the independent senator, Carmen Gloria Aravena, realizes that in the event that Montes were the next Segpres minister, “he has sufficient merit and the ability to be a great minister given his parliamentary experience and his relationship mainly with the Senate. It is also evident that he is a person who has carried out a good job today and is very well evaluated by the public in the role that he is fulfilling”.
Unlike everyone else, the deputy for Approve Dignity and Humanist Action, Thomas Hirsch, does not share “this kind of festival of declarations that there have been from different parties announcing, pre-announcing, demanding, requesting, pressuring a change of cabinet.” For him, it is an attribution of the President and that as long as that decision is not made by the president, he will “fully support the current cabinet.”
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