The president of the Unión Democrática Independiente (UDI), a right-wing Chilean party, Deputy Guillermo Ramírez, backed ministro de Justicia (Justice Minister) Fernando Rabat staying in office. He also accused the government of Gabriel Boric of having broken the law by rejecting sentence reductions.
According to La Tercera, Ramírez spoke on Canal 13's program Mesa Central. His remarks came amid the controversy over the sentence reductions granted to 56 people convicted of sexual offenses, which triggered a crisis at La Moneda, the presidential palace.
"I don't think he has to resign. In fact, I think he has been one of the breakout ministers of the cabinet," he said of Rabat. He also praised Rabat's performance in Congress.
The party leader argued that a minister cannot be asked to act against court rulings just to avoid a political cost. "It is very difficult to ask a minister, just to spare himself a political problem, to do the opposite of what the courts have ruled en masse and of what the law clearly states," he said.
Asked whether previous administrations had failed to comply with the rules, he replied "absolutely," as reported by BioBioChile. "The requirement is to establish that the stages of the procedure were complied with," he added.
His criticism was aimed squarely at Boric. "What President Boric's government did was say 'I am not willing to sign this decree,' but the people got out anyway," he said. In his view, that decision only shifted responsibility to the Corte Suprema (Supreme Court), without solving the underlying problem.
Ramírez was responding to criticism from the previous administration, including from former government spokesperson minister Camila Vallejo. In his reading, it was the courts that later reversed the Boric government's refusals.
The deputy said that President José Antonio Kast is not satisfied with what happened. However, he insisted that the solution must be legislative.
Meanwhile, the gremialista leader said the clash with the Partido Republicano was over. Its president, Arturo Squella, had posted a message on X against former Justice Minister Hernán Larraín (UDI) that alluded to Paul Schäfer, leader of Colonia Dignidad, the German enclave in the Región del Maule where abuses against minors were committed.
Ramírez called those words "slanderous" and "unacceptable." He said Squella apologized to him and then called Larraín, who lives in Spain, to apologize. The conflict was settled in less than 24 hours.
The next step is the bill announced by Rabat to prevent further sentence reductions for those convicted of abuse. Ramírez predicted that Congress will pass it "quickly and unanimously."
