Reasons why Boric’s pension reform does not convince his followers

First modification: 04/11/2022 – 12:14

The detractors of the AFPs are not happy with the reform project proposed by Gabriel Boric and they consider that its approval will be quite complex to achieve. Not only does Boric not have a majority in Congress, which suggests that resistance will be evident in the chamber, but depends on another project also presented by Boric, the tax reform. That is, the financing of the pension system reform it depends what the tax reform is approved, which also does not have the support of the opposition and that it has just begun its parliamentary discussion.

In the current Congress, the most divided since Chile returned to democracy, the governing coalition is in the minority in both chambers and has the lowest number of deputies and senators of the last decades.

In addition to the lack of consensus in Congress, Boric’s proposal is also not popular among those who oppose the AFPs, as is the case with Louis Messinacoordinator spokesperson No + AFPwhich since 2016 has been fighting to end the AFPs.

It is far from the aspirations that the social movement had raised, especially after the outbreak of October 18. although there are positive aspects, these are the minor ones, for example, part of the administration is going to pass to a public body that is the Social Security Institute, the only body that is still in force and that is related to Social Security in Chili. However, what is serious about the proposal is that proposing to keep intact all the savings – which has worked on individual capitalization – in the hands of the large financial corporations and that is tremendously offensive. What has happened after 41 years of the Chilean system is that individual capitalization proved to be an absolute failure because the axis of its policy is precisely the profitability of the capital market and not paying pensions.

Luis Mesina also considers that the possibility of this proposal going ahead is slim:

The possibility that this proposal achieves sufficient votes in Congress is seen as quite complex, because it must be borne in mind that in Chile there is a right wing that has become accustomed to having all the privileges of the legal system, a political Constitution and a economic model that has allowed it to concentrate wealth in an obscene way, compared to other countries in the region.

From Santiago de Chileour correspondent Yasna Mussa collects the feeling of Chileans Regarding this reform project

Here the report: