Chile's President-elect Gabriel Boric on Friday unveiled his government, which is characterized by political pluralism, has a majority of women members and the center-left former central bank governor at the helm of the finance ministry. The new government, which takes office on March 11th, has 24 members, including 14 women, with one-third declared independent.
The most anticipated for the markets was the appointment to the portfolio of Finance of Mario Marcel, the chairman of the Central Bank, who does not have a political label, but is affiliated with the Socialist Party. Mr Marcel, 62, had already been appointed to various positions in the days of center-left governments. He was the person preferred by market players, who see his appointment as a gesture of moderation by the head of state, who promises to establish a welfare state in Chile, a laboratory country for neoliberalism.
The Santiago Stock Exchange welcomed the news of Marcel's appointment, closing with a 3% rise. He had fallen more than 6% the day after the victory of Gabriel Boric, the candidate of the left of Chile, with 56% of the votes. He clearly defeated in the second round the far-right candidate Jose Antonio Cast, who claimed to be the political heir to the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet and the candidate of “law and order”.
In addition to Marcel, the new head of state appointed other members of the center-left in his government, moving out of his original coalition, which includes the Communist Party of Chile, and which secured only 24% of the seats in parliament. .
Gabriel Boric was apparently asked to “establish an alliance in parliament that will support the president,” Marcelo Megia, a professor of political science at the University of Santiago, told AFP.
“In this group (…) we are accompanied by people with different backgrounds and education (…) It is a government composed of a majority of women (…) with the presence of different regions, generations, political pluralism (…) a large presence of independent and political party leaders” , Mr. Boric summed up during the presentation of his figure at the Museum of Natural History in Santiago.
Ischia Sichés, the first woman to take over as head of the Chilean Medical Association in 2017, has been named Minister of the Interior. The 35-year-old, like the President, was actively involved in tackling the new coronavirus pandemic. The Foreign Ministry will be headed by Antonia Urejola, a 53-year-old lawyer who chaired the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Another woman will take over the Ministry of Defense: Maya Fernandes Ayente, 50, granddaughter of former Socialist President Salvador Ayente (1970-1973), who was overthrown in the Pinochet military coup.
The average age of the new government is 49 years. The youngest member of the government is Antonia Oregiana, 32, who will take over the Ministry of Women. Two former student leaders and lawmakers, Giorgio Jackson and Camila Vallejo, who starred in the 2011 student mobilization, along with Gabriel Boris, claiming “public, free and quality education”, will take over as secretary-general and acting secretary-general. . Both of them will participate in the “political committee”, a group with a narrow composition, consisting of the President's closest associates.
Also in attendance will be Ischia Sichs, who ousted campaign leader Gabriel Boric ahead of the run-off, and Mario Marcel. The latter, who will undertake the completion of the tax system reform promised by Gabriel Boric, in order for the richest to participate in his social program, will have a difficult task, as the financial situation is delicate.
