Pinera Dodges Impeachment Motion on Chile Protest Crackdown

By Bloomberg• 13 December 2019

(Bloomberg) --Chile’s lower house of Congress rejected a proposal to impeach President Sebastian Pinera over his handling of nearly two months of unrest that has left more than 20 dead and caused a slump in economic activity.

The motion accused Pinera of supporting human-rights violations committed by security forces against protesters in recent weeks. Lower house deputies voted 73 in favor of the impeachment and 79 against, according to data on the lower house’s Twitter account.

Efforts to impeach Pinera were seen as unlikely to succeed, since it would have required members of the ruling coalition to vote against the president. Still, the debate added to tension after weeks of violence that crippled transport in the capital of Santiago and other major cities, shuttered shops and left thousands injured.

Pinera isn’t in the clear from other accusations.

“The president’s opposition is likely to continue to throw constitutional challenges at him,” according to James Bosworth, a Bogota-based political analyst who writes the Latin America Risk Report newsletter. “With the president below a 15% approval rating, actions forcing Pinera’s allies to continuously cast unpopular votes to rescue the president will raise the pressure on the conservative side of the ideological spectrum.”

More:
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2019-12-13-pinera-dodges-impeachment-motion-on-chile-protest-crackdown/