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Government denies accusations of populism voiced against President

The Minister of the Presidency, Francisco Vidal, has stated that the President's decision has to do with the current economic scenario within the country.

24 de Noviembre de 2008 | 14:55 | Daniela Aránguiz, El Mercurio Online

SANTIAGO.- After leftist senators Jorge Pizarro and Carlos Ominami called President Michelle Bachelet's decision to eliminate the 10% salary increase for her and her ministers "populist", the Minister of the Presidency, Francisco Vidal, has defended the initiative and indicated that it is a decision that has to do with the current economic scenario facing the country.


"I think that it is an appropriate sign for the current state of the nation because one could ask: Was Monsignor Goic populist when he proposed an ethical minimum salary of 250 thousand pesos?  No, it is an ethical proposal, not a populist proposal, and so we are going to see how it will be carried out", the minister stated while also indicating that the President had proposed the idea "only for her and her ministers".


Vidal added that in Chile, people are always talking about making gestures and stated that the measure is appropriate considering the amount of unemployment in several regions throughout the nation as well as the bankruptcies of the sawmills in the Bío Bío and Arauco regions due to a drop in U.S. demand.


The state secretary assured that the President has already made the decision and that right now Vidal is analyzing the proposal along with a team of constitutional and legal experts to determine the right legal mechanism to implement so that the President and her ministers will be exempt from the salary increase.

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