President Bachelet prioritizes bills on probity in public office and restrictions on the re-election of public officials

Accompanied by the Interior and Public Security Minister, Rodrigo Peñailillo; the Treasury Minister, Alberto Arenas; the Minister Secretary General of the Government, Álvaro Elizalde; and the Minister Secretary General of the Presidency, Ximena Rincón; the President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, issued emergency decrees to move up two bills for immediate debate in Congress: the probity in public office bill and the bill to restrict the re-election of public officials.

“Last night I explained to the nation the main lines of action, based on Eduardo Engel’s report and other proposals, which we will take to strengthen our institutional framework and our practices in politics, business and also in relation to civic participation and training. I made a commitment to take immediate steps towards implementing these lines of action and restoring dignity to the public sphere and private sector activity,” the President said.

Similarly, she explained the scope of the probity in public office bill and called for its immediate debate.

“This bill not only provides better protection against conflicts of interests by public officials, it also establishes stricter penalties should such conflicts arise”, she added.

The proposed legislation extends, regulates and increases the requirements for declarations of interests and assets by public officials and imposes stricter penalties for those who fail to declare. It also establishes a trust fund mechanism for officials owning stock and shares worth over 25,000 UF (US$1 million). The bill rules that no State official -be they President, member of Congress or other official- will be allowed to participate in companies that do business with the State whilst they are in office. In such cases, the official would be required to sell their stake in the company.
Similarly, the President called for the immediate debate of the Constitutional Reform bill to restrict the re-election of senators, representatives and other elected officials.

“What we are proposing is an end to the current system of indefinite re-election. We propose that senators may be re-elected once, i.e. for a maximum of 16 years; and for representatives, mayors, councilors and regional councilors, we propose that they may be re-elected twice, i.e. for a maximum of 12 years” she explained.

Finally, President Bachelet stated that “our duty is to ensure that Chile has a modern, democratic system that is fit for a country that aspires to be a developed nation. And a modern democracy means greater participation, more transparency, healthier political parties, a representative electoral system and restrictions on the re-election of officials”, she explained.