Chilean President Gabriel Boric reorganized his cabinet for the second time in less than a year after lawmakers handed his administration a crushing defeat by rejecting its key tax reform proposal.
(Bloomberg) — Chilean President Gabriel Boric reorganized his cabinet for the second time in less than a year after lawmakers handed his administration a crushing defeat by rejecting its key tax reform proposal.
Boric on Friday tapped Alberto van Klaveren to replace Antonia Urrejola as Foreign Relations Minister, while choosing Jessica Lopez as Public Works Minister in the place of Juan Carlos Garcia. The head of state also changed his ministers of culture, sports and science, as well as 15 undersecretaries.
Boric’s government is reeling after the lower house of congress unexpectedly rejected legislation that included the nation’s first wealth tax and which was intended to finance a large part of its social welfare programs. The administration is now set to start its second year in power severely weakened by political missteps and low approval ratings.
“I am calling on my team to go work out in the field, to continue on the current path and to step on the gas even more,” Boric said. “We aren’t starting from scratch.”
Read more: Chile’s Young President Sees Policies at Risk by Tax Defeat
The president still has much at stake, including plans to shorten the working week and overhaul the nation’s pension system. Boric also faces a challenging economic outlook, with annual inflation running at almost four times the target, and both the central bank and the Finance Ministry expecting gross domestic product to shrink this year.
Last September, the leftist president fired his interior minister and pushed one of his closest advisers to a more peripheral role in a sweeping cabinet shake-up that tacked to the political center. The changes came after voters rejected a radical rewrite of the constitution, backed by Boric. He has also struck a tougher tone on conservative issues like crime and illegal migration.
Boric’s approval rating ticked up to 35%, the highest level since September, according to a Cadem poll published on Sunday. Roughly 80% of respondents said Chile’s economy is either stalled or worsening, the survey showed.
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