Camila Vallejo: "The Government of Chile will not twist its direction whatever the results of the election"

In the Government of Gabriel Boric they observe with a strategic distance the election of this Sunday in Chile, as can be seen when listening to the minister spokesman, Camila Vallejo (Santiago, 35 years old), who has received this Friday to EL PAÍS in the meeting room of his Cabinet in La Moneda, hours before the electoral event. Unlike what happened in the plebiscite last September, when the Chilean Executive openly supported the text that was rejected by 62% of the citizens, the Administration this time has not played a leading role in this process. However, the result is crucial for one of the fundamental objectives of the Chilean left: the consolidation of a social state and that rights such as education and health are enshrined and guaranteed constitutionally, not in the priority hands of the market. Overcome, in short, the Constitution of 1980, drafted in the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, although reformed dozens of times in democracy.

La Moneda's cautious stance is explained by the air that runs in the Chilean political scene. As if public opinion were a pendulum, this new election finds the South American country with airs in favor of the conservatives, the traditional right and the extreme, which could together stay with 30 seats – three-fifths of the body – that would leave them in an unbeatable position to impose their terms, according to opinion polls. Although surprises are not ruled out, the ruling party and the left know that it is possible that the government's list and another center-left list will not together reach the 21 seats on the council, which would leave them without veto capacity within the constituent assembly. Everything, with an almost non-existent electoral climate, with the silence of President Boric himself, although the obligatory nature of the vote projects good levels of participation.

"There is an atmosphere that perhaps has less epic than last time, but we believe that people will go to vote," says Minister Vallejo, President Boric's traveling companion since the university mobilizations of 2011.

Minister Vallejo, a communist militant, speaks of this Sunday's elections in Chile, who this week was in New York, where she participated in the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the proclamation of World Press Freedom Day at the UN headquarters. It was there that he announced that UNESCO nominated Chile to host World Press Freedom Day in 2024.

Question. What importance do you attach to this?

Answer. It is of great importance. The choice of Chile as the host country for World Press Freedom Day in 2024 comes in the context of the 50th anniversary of the 1973 coup d'état. For us, the axis of freedom of the press, the right to information, freedom of expression, are within the framework of democratic deepening. Therefore, from this debate we can contribute to the reflection of how to strengthen democracy, looking at the past, but also the present. It is interesting to see what are the deficits that exist in the world and in Chile.

Q. Will an eventual new Chilean Magna Carta continue to guarantee the right to freedom of expression?

A. It will depend on the work and debate of the constitutional council that will be elected this Sunday. As a government, we believe that what citizens expect is that the democratic forces present can agree on the constitutional norms that allow us, first, to have a Constitution that represents the great majorities and, secondly, to deepen and strengthen Chilean democracy.

Minister Vallejo during the interview. Cristian Soto Quiroz

Q. Do you like the design of this second constituent attempt?

A. Beyond whether I like it or not, it is the result that was achieved from an intense debate in Congress, where the political forces, in a transversal way, managed to agree on a path that would give Chile a second chance to have a constitutional process for a new Constitution.

Q. Unlike the previous one, it is controlled by the parties and strongly delimited, so there is little room for surprises.

A. It is indeed a more moderate process, but in which citizens have the last word: they will elect their advisors and, at the end of the process, they will be able to determine if they are convinced or not, if they like it or not, if they believe that the proposed constitutional text is what our country requires or not. Citizens end up being the sovereign of this process.

Q. A fellow party member, former deputy Hugo Gutierrez, said that this constituent process was a "democratic fraud." What do you think?

A. Beyond the fact that I am a member of my party – the party itself will have to indicate whether that phrase represents it or not – for our government it is a democratic process that demonstrates, once again, that in Chile we can channel our differences. And that's relevant. It is not easy in a country where there is political fragmentation.

Q. It has been a strange campaign, because, despite the relevance, there is no atmosphere or motivation. The government itself has been criticized for not pushing for participation.

A. There are criticisms and opinions of all kinds and they are legitimate. The truth is that, of course, there is an atmosphere that perhaps has less epic than last time, but we believe that people will come to vote. And not only because it is mandatory, but because you have the conviction that your vote is important. And that determines something key: nothing more and nothing less than choosing those who will write a constitutional proposal.

Q. What is at stake for the government and the left in this election?

A. We have one main task: to govern. We have a lot of work to do in being a government. And what is at stake in this process is that there is a representation of the majority, that there is a debate at the height, that the result of that debate is of agreements, that the norms represent the great majorities and that we can at the end of the process have a new Constitution. But our task as a government is to continue governing.

Q. They will be interested in the fact that the official list in competition, Unidad para Chile, does well.

A. But it is a task of the parties, which agreed on the lists, the formation of their lists, defined their campaigns and are making their own balances. It is not something that corresponds to the Government. The leading role has been played by Parliament, Congress and, today, citizens at the time of election.

Q. The Government cannot be indifferent to the results.

A. What interests us about the results is that the democratic forces agree within the council. And that the debate is up to the task, understanding that the future of our society is at stake. The main thing is there and not to be flagged in lists and candidacies, because it is not our role.

Q. At stake are issues that his political sector has fought for decades, such as constitutionally enshrined social rights.

A. That is why we are not indifferent and consider it an important process. But the government must continue to govern.

Q. Is the apparent indifference to the results a sign that they are preparing for a defeat of the ruling party and the left?

A. I do not share that view at all. What happens is that we have to do the work that corresponds to us and there are different roles. The citizens have to elect their councillors, the council has the task of drafting the proposal for a new constitution and the citizens will have to decide in December whether they like the result of their work or not.

Q. Why do the traditional right and the extreme appear as favorites in these elections?

A. Analysis is the task of political analysts. For us, the priority is that the forces that participate in this process – which, we understand, are there to make a change in the Constitution that we have – manage to have a text that can represent the great majorities. We hope that all those who have wanted to go collectively to change a Constitution and that it is not a logic of impositions have a democratic vocation.

Camila Vallejo, May 5, 2023.Cristian Soto Quiroz

Q. The far-right Republican Party has opposed changing the current constitution. What role will they play within the constituent assembly?Of boycott, as they say even from the traditional right?

A. One would expect that no force that leads candidacies to a body that will draft a new Constitution will have the intention of boycotting, but of making itself available for democratic dialogue to achieve a text that represents all of us and not just one sector, especially after the experience we had in the previous process.

Q. A senator from his bloc, Juan Ignacio Latorre, has said that the text could be worse than the current constitution, which would have to be rejected in December, in the exit plebiscite. Are you for that?

A. As a government, it is not up to us to anticipate the result of this Sunday's elections or to advance scenarios regarding the exit plebiscite. What we hope is that the constitutional body can deliver to the country a proposal that is as representative of reality and its aspirations.

Q. And does the government expect that proposal to be approved in December?

A. That depends on the work the council does.

Q. After the rejection of the first proposal in the September referendum, the government was asked to change course [it made a cabinet change a few days later and moderate forces of socialism entered]. Will the result of this Sunday's election imply any kind of shift for this administration?

A. The Government of Chile will not twist its direction whatever the results of the election. Imagine if our government depended on every election. It would be tremendously uncertain.