Government to move ahead with Transantiago subsidy bill

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SANTIAGO.- The government has announced that it will continue to push the initiative forward to seek a public transport subsidy for Santiago and outlying regions. This decision has been made despite a potential veto on the part of the Constitutional Tribunal regarding a loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) for Transantiago, as well as pressure from the Concertación to use the constitutional 2% fund to finance it.

After holding a political committee meeting that lasted close to two hours, the Presidential Spokesman, Francisco Vidal, stated that the decision made by President Michelle Bachelet "is that hopefully, the Constitutional Tribunal ruling will be announced as soon as possible", since there has already been a leak about the decision and "the country requires judicial certainty to make decisions".

Vidal claimed that the President had decided to push the subsidy project ahead regardless of the Constitutional Tribunal ruling, which he indicated, may reject the USD$ 400 million dollar loan from the IADB.

Vidal also maintained that the Executive Branch plans to "speed up" negotiations in Parliament and in order to do so, the Minister of Transport, René Cortázar will meet with the independent senators to try and secure their crucial support.