Two-thirds of citizens support Chile’s Piñera’s impeachment over Pandora Papers – poll

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Slightly more than 2 out of every 3 Chileans support the impeachment action filed by the opposition in Parliament to remove the president, conservative Sebastián Piñera, for alleged irregularities in a mine sale that were unveiled in the Pandora Papers leak, according to a poll published this Sunday (17).

The Pulso Ciudadano survey by the consulting firm Activa Research showed that 67.7% of those polled said they “strongly agree” or “agree” with the impeachment. In comparison, 14.9% “strongly disagree” or “disagree” and 17.5 % “neither agree nor disagree”.

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The highest adhesion came from young people between 18 and 30 years old and those over 51 years old, where support borders 70%, according to the poll, which also revealed that the president’s approval fell to 12.5%, one of its lowest levels since he took office for four years in March 2018.

In addition, 37.7% of respondents – 3 out of every 8 – said they agreed with Piñera’s impeachment declared themselves right-wing supporters.

Deputies from all opposition parties filed on Wednesday (13) a constitutional accusation against the 71-year-old ruler, owner of the fourth-largest fortune in Chile.

It is a historical process because for the second time in his mandate Piñera faces an impeachment request, after the one that failed in November 2019 for alleged human rights violations during the social outbreak.

He is also the second Chilean president in office to face an impeachment trial after the dismissed case against Carlos Ibáñez del Campo in 1956.

The objective is that the indictment, which will foreseeably have the votes in the Lower House, reaches the Senate – the body that acts as judge – before the presidential elections of November 21.

Pandora Papers revealed alleged irregularities in the sale of Minera Dominga by a company owned by Piñera’s sons in the British Virgin Islands, just nine months after he took office for his first term (2010-2014).

As revealed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), the sale of the project to businessman and friend of the presidential family Carlos Alberto Délano was to take place in three installments. Still, the last one was conditional upon the area not being declared of environmental protection, a decision that depended on Piñera.

The impeachment, which could lead to Piñera’s dismissal or disqualification from holding public office, is in addition to the investigation opened last week by the Chilean Prosecutor’s Office for bribery and tax offenses in the same financial operation.

The president defends that he dissociated himself from his businesses through blind trusts in 2009 and argues that what was revealed in the Pandora Papers has already been investigated and dismissed in 2017.