Chilean right-wing parties to set up 'shadow cabinet' to 'supervise' incoming Boric administration

Just two months before Gabriel Boric is scheduled to be sworn in as Chile’s next president on March 11, members of the soon-to-be opposition have announced that they will set up a “shadow cabinet” in order to supervise the newly elected left-wing administration.

The announcement came shortly after members of the National Renovation (RN) party met with outgoing President Sebastian Piñera to discuss his administration’s most recent term — in addition to ongoing issues such as the Constitutional Convention, which is currently tasked with re-writing the Chilean constitution.

According to RN President and Chilean Senator Francisco Chahuán, the opposition will push for an established list of "principles, freedoms and rights to be included in the new document.”

“We will also designate shadow ministers to mirror the appointments made by President Boric when he takes office,” Chahuán added, noting that the appointments to the opposition led shadow-government will be announced by Jan. 20.

"We will have sector and party leaders in order to provide alternative viewpoints. For the minister of housing, a counterpart; for the minister of social development, a counterpart,” he noted.

Members of the center-right RN party and members of Boric’s team are expected to meet in the coming weeks to discuss the transfer of power.

"After March 11, we are going to be the opposition. Firm, but fair. An opposition that is going to seek agreements. We must revalidate politics as an instrument for the service of the people, and that means we must create spaces for dialogue,” Chahuán added.  

The Chilean right has been in crisis mode since Gabriel Boric — a 35-year-old former student protest leader whose coalition includes the Communist Party — bested free-market candidate Jose Antonio Kast in the Dec. 19 elections.

The incoming president has promised to move forward with the country’s thirst for reform and supports the move to reform Chile’s prolific private pension fund administrators (AFPs) and the constitution, which is currently being re-written by a constitutional convention comprised mostly of left-wing and independent representatives.

Chile, a country which was once considered the poster child of the power of free-market reforms, has suffered two years of violent protests and untamed terrorism in the country’s southern regions.