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Original article: “Están los votos, pero no están acá”: el bochorno que obligó al Gobierno a postergar la megarreforma

«Votes Are There, But Not Present»; this was the scandal that the government of José Antonio Kast faced when it had to withdraw the urgency of the major tax reform and the Senate postponed the voting upon realizing that it lacked the necessary 26 votes to ratify the report from the Mixed Commission, which had passed the initial filter in the Chamber of Deputies with a vote of 80 in favor, 48 against, and two abstentions.

The UDI committee facilitated the postponement of the decision, aiming to protect the government from a potential defeat in the voting session. With the appeal succeeding and a new date set for the first week of August (after the regional break), it became clear how fragile the parliamentary support that the ruling party had managed to assemble truly was.

Shifts That Changed the Landscape

Within the UDI, Senator Gustavo Sanhueza announced that he would reject the proposal, joining a series of defections that ultimately undermined the governing coalition’s chances, including those of Enrique Van Rysselberghe, also from the UDI, and Vanessa Kaiser from the Libertarian National Party, while Rojo Edwards —independent of the RN bloc— and Matías Walker also would not vote in favor.

In this adverse scenario, the Kast government was left without the margin to approve the controversial project and was forced to withdraw the urgency before facing a defeat.

«Votes Are There, But Not Present»

Biminister of the Interior and Segegob, Claudio Alvarado, suggested that the voting could be postponed until after the regional week, and with the phrase «Votes Are There, But Not Present», he not only highlighted the empty seat of Van Rysselberghe but also showcased that there was a group of right-wing senators in the chamber who were already anticipating their rejection of the initiative.

From La Moneda, there were plans to finalize the processing of their project in July. Despite having successfully passed through the Mixed Commission and the Chamber, the Senate presented a different challenge where an emergency retreat exposed the lack of cohesion and support for the Kast administration within its own political sector.

Scandal and Lack of Political Skill

Senator Iván Flores (DC) described the situation as a «scandal» and publicly criticized the government’s lack of skill, while the president of the PS, Paulina Vodanovic, stated that it did not even have its own votes secured, reported El Mostrador.

The criticized initiative will return to the Senate in the first week of August, and even if the ruling party manages to restore its majority to approve the report from the Mixed Commission, it will still have to navigate three requests presented by the opposition before the Constitutional Tribunal (TC).

The legal offensive from members of the PS, PPD, DC, FA, PL and PC focuses on two main fronts: the tax invariability for up to 20 years for large investments and the controversial regime of fiscal compensations for projects whose Environmental Qualification Resolutions (RCA) are annulled by the judiciary.

Thus, although the government entered the Senate with the certainty that the process was already defined, internal rejection within the UDI, the abandonment of two legislators from the session, and the votes against from key senators were sufficient to stall the initiative and avoid a defeat.

La entrada Votes Are There, But Not Present: The Scandal That Forced the Government to Delay the Major Tax Reform se publicó primero en El Ciudadano.