Supreme Mess

The Michelle Bachelet administration got it self into a difficult bind; this after its candidate to occupy a seat in Chile's Supreme Court did not receive sufficient votes in the Senate. Santiago Appeals' Court Judge Alfredo Pfeiffer, a conservative judge, was nominated by the ruling centre-left Concertacion coalition, after a deal was struck with the right-wing opposition to get the ruling coalition's own candidate, Justice Harold Brito, appointed to the occupy one of two vacant spot in the country's Supreme Court.

Judge Pfeiffer, in his entire career as a judge, has upheld the Pinochet dictatorship era Amnesty Law. A law that pardons human rights violators. Pfeiffer has never prosecuted human rights violators, he always has applied the Amnesty Law. Pfeiffer has defied a Supreme Court edict that sets aside the Amnesty Law, which ensures the prosecution of human rights violators. Pfeiffer has closed human rights cases even in some cases without holding an investigation in cases of disappearances of Pinochet era political opponents.

Judge Pfeiffer's reasons for defying the Supreme Court in human rights cases, is that he believes the Amnesty Law is valid, in the books and that it has not been repealed. But the Supreme Court ruled that Law should be set set aside in human rights violation cases.

He also argues that International Law and legal treaties Chile has signed do not have legal binding value in national law, Pfeiffer argues national law trumps international justice.

But what really sets Pfeiffer apart, is an interview he gave in the early 1990's with the conservative daily El Mercurio. He told veteran reporter Raquel Correa, that he did not believe movies that depicted the Jewish holocaust at the hands of Nazi Germany. Pfeiffer the son of a German immigrant to Chile, told Correa the Holocaust was not as bad as depicted in movies.

This is the judge the Bachelet government wanted promoted to the country's Supreme Court. This after the Bachelet government struck that deal with the right-wing opposition. With the agreement the Bachelet administration managed to get the respected judge Haroldo Brito, who has made an impressive career investigating and prosecuting human rights violators, to the Supreme Court in exchange for the second seat to be allocated to Judge Pfeiffer.

It is surprising that the Socialist Bachelet, her centre-left ruling coalition many like Bachelet victims of human rights violations, hitched their reputation on a holocaust apologist and who is dismissive of human rights violations in Chile.

It is also surprising for the right-wing opposition to be angry, they called the Senate rejection of Pfeiffer a betrayal. It is surprising how political deal making becomes an act of political betrayal. Also it is surprising how little attention was given to Pfeiffer's legal views on human rights, international law, and particularly to Pfeiffer's egregious holocaust apologizing.

Minister of Education Suspended by Congress

The Lower House of Congress voted to suspend the Minister of Education, Yasna Provoste, for serious dereliction of her Constitutional duties. The Chambers of Deputies voted 59 to 55 to fire the Minister. Now is up to the Senate to either uphold or quash the Deputies' decision.

The vote comes after a more than two-months of news and debate on a serious accounting disorders found inside the Ministry of Education that dates back to 2004 and 2005; a period before this Government. The opposition right-wing Alliance coalition pushed the case until it filed in mid March a Constitution Accusation against Provoste for dereliction of her Ministerial duties.

The Alliance argued the Minister did not act with promptness to fix the serious accounting problems found by the Auditor General. The Minister countered saying her Ministry was taking actions, she assured the public funds were not misspent and denied it a case of corruption.

The Ministry of Education is responsible for funding public and semi-private schools. The monies in the accounting mess were destined to pay schools for the students attending classes, pay for teachers and educational support personnel. The funds were also destined toward breakfast, lunch and snack programs.

Provoste defended herself saying she was taking action, but the opposition charged she did not act fast enough to remedy the mess and guaranteed the public the monies did not go missing.

The deposed Minister called the entire process a political attack, making her to be a convenient scapegoat before the Auditor General files the final report on the financial records sent from the Ministry to be audited. Provoste says the accusers and those who voted against her in Congress were politically motivated. Provoste says the presumption of innocence was not invoked, she described opposition victory, pyrrhic.

The opposition was able to gather enough votes because two Government Concertacion coalition Congressmen did not vote and four former members of the Christian Democratic Party, part of the ruling coalition, voted with the opposition.

It is up to the Senate to either confirm or deny the Constitutional accusation. If the ruling is upheld, Provoste will be the first Government Minister sacked by Congress since the Salvador Allende administration (1970-73).

A Wasted First Year?

This past March 11, the centre-left Concertación government of President Michelle Bachelet celebrated one year in office. As the country’s first woman to hold the highest elected office, the celebrations were a happy affair by the government and politicians that belong to the ruling coalition.

However, the first year in government has been less than stellar. Social conflicts from the get go; a failure to control the political and legislative agenda; ministerial gaffes; a failure to make appointments to sensitive postings within the State structure; and to date the failed implementation of a new public transit system in Santiago have placed the Bachelet government on the defensive for most of its first year in office.

Problems include inaction by Government ministers and officials. Bachelet aides are extremely sensitive to distance the President from the day-to-day Government front lines in an effort to shield her from criticism. But as Bachelet’s distance grows from the political front lines so does the criticism. Government inaction reflects in its failure to meet its legislative agenda and failure to lead political discourse.

But the Government inaction has more to do with the Bachelet style of leadership. Chile’s presidential system demands a firm nearly authoritarian presidential presence. Bachelet’s, leadership is more inclusive; she seeks to build coalitions based on inclusion and debate. She is not the more expected aggressive presidential leader that barks instructions and quashes dissent within Government ranks and is constantly in the offensive.

Bachelet’s inclusive executive style has played major role in the Government disorder where Government ministers fail to make executive decisions because Bachelet prefers to consult before making a decision. So, ministers have been paralyzed because of Bachelet’s leadership style.

That style has been cannon fodder for the opposition. The right-wing Alianza opposition has attacked the government on its failure to make decisions, calling indecisive, charging the Government is improvises or creates commissions to consult because it fails to make decision.

The opposition’s criticism may have some legs, but not every Government decision is improvised. It has pushed through part of its social agenda, particularly reform to the Labour Law. This year it expects to legislate on reforms to the failed private pension system and reform Education Act.

Despite the opposition criticism, it has failed to present an alternative to the ruling Concertación coalition. The Centre-left coalition has ruled Chile since its return to democracy in 1990. It has won every single election, which reflects more on the oppositions' inability to present a credible inclusive centrist alternative.

The opposition has the tendency to criminalize almost every issue that smells of controversy. Instead of investigating Government wrongdoing, the opposition has prefers to fight political battles in the Courts, where it loses any political immediacy. Those actions tend to show an opposition that is willing to go to court rather than have the legislative bodies investigate potential wrongdoings.

Voters are not paying attention to the political debate, which is good to the ruling Concertación coalition, because voters although may be tired of the Concertación, its governments have always began slow while they solve the problems on the go.

It is that lack of electoral alternative that has turned the ruling Concertación coalition into an arrogant political machine that pays little or no attention to criticism. It is a coalition that pretends it knows best dismissing most criticism on its actions.

Bachelet’s first year in office can be described as disappointing, with much room for improvement and for expectations for President to take a firm control of the Government agenda and assume the leadership role expect of a President.

A hot political summer

Government Spokesperson Ricardo Lagos-Weber, explains away in the hot political summer

The political temperature at the beginning of 2007 is high as is the temperature this summer; this due to political charges of corruption from the opposition to the government, a government official resigns in disgrace, a right-wing politician who claims to fight for rectitude is found to have lied in his CV, and the polls continue to show an overwhelming support for President Michelle Bachelet. Not to mention the morning after pill controversy created by conservative groups, the Catholic Church and the so-called right to life groups.

Corruption charges
The centre-left Concertación Government faces corruption charges in the handling of public funds allocated to the Department of Sport, that were allegedly diverted to the 2005 parliamentary and presidential elections. Political operatives inside the Department of Sport face charges of misappropriation of funds.

In another story, two Centre-left House Representatives face corruption charges emanating from the 2005 election. It is alleged Party for Democracy (PPD) Representatives Rodrigo González and Laura Soto for the twin cities of Valparaíso and Viña del Mar, are accused of diverting public make work project funds directed to out of work low-income workers in exchange of votes for work.

Another case is a scam that involves the use of fake invoices by three candidates to justify VAT Tax deduction. The scam involves a shell company, Publicam, that sold invoices to firms that wanted to skirt paying the VAT they collected. Publicam was found out after PPD Senator Guido Girardi, losing right-wing RN candidate for the Senate Lily Pérez and right-wing Alliance Presidential candidate Sebastián Piñera used the Publicam invoices to justify expenses. All three are under investigation; as are under arrest pending trial the Publicam “owners.”

What is in a CV
Catalina Depassier resigned her post this week as the head of Chile’s Department of Sport after it was found out she lied in her CV. In the government web site it said, Depassier had a bachelor’s degree in philosophy, when in fact she only had university courses in philosophy.

However, that case, although serious is not the only one. The previously named Piñera put in his résumé that when he obtained his Ph.D. in economy from Harvard University, he wrote he obtained the highest grade of his Ph.D. class, and that he was an economics professor at Harvard. Piñera was found out lying when blogger Roberto Castillo, a Harvard Ph.D. graduate, inquired at Harvard’s Registrar’s office. Castillo was told Ph.D. in economics does not rank its students and that Piñera was only a simple T.A. (Teaching Assistant), not a member of the faculty and that he never taught a course at Harvard as Piñera claimed in his CV.

Castillo also found out that right-wing RN Representative Nicolas Monckeberg also lied in his CV. Monckeberg who outed Depassier, wrote in his résumé that he had a Masters’ Degree in Political Science from Harvard University. Castillo charged in his blog that Monckeberg only had Master of Liberal Arts from Harvard Extension School. As soon as he was found out and reported this week by Castillo, Monckeberg changed his information on his web site, and Library of Congress web site.

Monckeberg before


Monckeberg after


Monckeberg can be accused of being cynical for applying one standard to others, while he fails to be fully transparent, because he also lied as Castillo proved, forcing the moralist crusading RN parliamentarian to correct his résumé.

Polling to the top
After a tepid start, President Michelle Bachelet has found her rhythm and the public has began to understand her leadership style. Bachelet is riding high on the polls. Four polls released in the first week of the new year, Bachelet is over the 50 percent mark. The respected right-wing think tank CEP poll, gives Bachelet 52 percent approval. The social democrat linked CERC poll places Bachelet at 54 percent, the same approval rating found in the far right Adimark think tank poll.

As Bachelet and her government rides high in the polls, her governing Concertación coalition hovers around the 26 to 28 percent approval rating, and a high rejection rate near the 50 percent mark. The right-wing Alliance has been unable to gain on the corruption scandals that are plaguing the Concertación coalition, it has failed to put forward a concept of what is its indentity, and it has failed to put forward a vision for the country, getting only 22 to 24 percent approval rating and 46-48 percent rejection from the electorate.

To put an end to all potential future corruption President Bachelet unvailed a Government transparency agenda, that according to Bachelet "leads to a more efficient, clean Government, and political objective that puts people at the centre."

And more round for the morning after pill
To continue the hot debate, the distribution of the morning after pill was stopped after the Constitutional Court ruled the Ministry of Health decree lacked constitutionality. The decision forced the government to either suspend the distribution or issue a Presidential decree. The Bachelet administration opted to distribute the pill with the forced of a Presidential Decree. Initially the morning after pill was issued at all public health facilities to girls 14 year-old and up without the consent of their parents. Conservative groups in society, the Catholic Church, and so-called right to life groups appealed to the Constitutional Court that controversially ruled in their favour. Once the Presidential Decree is published in the Government Gazette the pill can again be distributed in all public health hospitals and clinics. So-called Right to life groups are waiting for the Presidential Decree to launch another challenge to the Constitutional Court, this time charging the decree violates the Constitution’s right to life protection that says, life begins at from the point of conception. The so-called right to life groups argue the morning after pill causes abortion.