Deputy Ximena Ossandón, of National Renewal (RN), ruled out the parties supporting President José Antonio Kast forming a governing coalition. She said the President himself had defined the arrangement that way from the start of his administration.
Ossandón, second vice president of the Chamber of Deputies, spoke on T13 En Vivo. Asked whether the governing parties could form a coalition, she replied: "We are being led by the President of the Republic, and from day one he told us we were not going to be a coalition."
The lawmaker added that, in her view, that arrangement was probably not Kast's personal decision. "It strikes me that it came more from his advisers," she said.
The deputy said her political bloc could "be major collaborators with the government." However, she clarified that this did not take away their freedom to express opinions on other issues. As an example, she cited former President Michelle Bachelet's return to Chile and her role in the opposition, an issue she had addressed recently.
Ossandón was emphatic: "We never became a coalition." Even so, she highlighted Chile Vamos leaders with experience in Sebastián Piñera's two governments. She said they were people who "know how to play the guitar, who know how to tune it" and would be willing to work with the executive branch, "but in a collaboration where we are all equals."
The phrase sums up the underlying tension. The governing camp brings together the Republican Party, Kast's party, and the three Chile Vamos parties: the Independent Democratic Union (UDI), RN and Evópoli. All are part of the government and support his leadership, but without a formal pact governing their relationship.
According to T13, differences and public disputes have emerged during the seven months in office. One of the latest concerned a possible pardon for former Lautaro member Juan Manuel Aliste Vega, convicted of the murder of Carabineros Corporal Luis Moyano in 2007. Aliste ultimately died of terminal cancer.
In that case, the Republicans supported granting the pardon on humanitarian grounds. Chile Vamos opposed it. In addition, statements by former presidential candidate Evelyn Matthei, a UDI member, have caused friction and drawn strong criticism from the Republican Party.
Without a formal coalition, each party negotiates its support on a case-by-case basis. For the government, this can complicate the coordination of votes in Congress. For Chile Vamos, the arrangement provides autonomy but limits its influence over executive decisions. The sources do not specify whether La Moneda has issued an official response to the deputy's remarks.
Ossandón concluded with a direct appeal to the President: "We have little time and a lot of time left, and I hope the government does well and that the President knows how to bring together the forces that are willing to support him."
