Chilean Senate to Vote on President Impeachment
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The Chilean Senate is considering a constitutional procedure to impeach President Sebastian Pinera over a conflict of interest case mentioned in the recently leaked Pandora Papers.
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If convicted, Pinera would be impeached and disqualified for five years from holding public office.
The Chilean Senate on Tuesday began examining a procedure approved by lawmakers to impeach President Sebastian Pinera over a conflict of interest case in 2010 that was recently exposed by the Pandora Papers.
Pinera's case is related to a sale of a mining company in a tax haven.
The Pandora Papers revealed that the mining company was sold by another company owned by Pinera's sons to his businessman friend for $152 million, in a deal that took place in the British Virgin Islands.
The deal was funded through three payments and included a controversial clause. It stipulated that for the last payment to be done, Pinera's government should not establish an environmental protection zone in the mining company's operating area.
According to the investigation published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Pinera's government failed to protect the area, and so the third payment was made.
Pinera considered the accusations baseless and condemned them.
He added that the Chilean Ministry of Labor investigated the case in-depth in 2017, and it has become a closed case with the judiciary.
Before the Senate session began, Socialist Senator Rabindranath Quinteros said that the impeachment procedure will honor Chileans, as to always have honest presidents who do not abuse their positions.
Quinteros acknowledged that the opposition does not have the majority votes needed to convict the president.
The center-left opposition has only 24 legislators in the Senate, and the conviction decision could be in doubt.
For his part, Secretary-General of the Chilean Presidency, Jaime Bellolio hoped the Senate will unanimously reject the accusations against Pinera.
The debate comes ahead of the Chilean presidential election on Sunday, in which Pinera is not running.
The president was impeached by the lower house last week in this regard.
If convicted, Pinera, who is a billionaire businessman, would be impeached and disqualified for five years from holding public office.
In early October, an investigation published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists revealed that "some 35 current and former leaders and more than 300 public officials are featured in the files from offshore companies, dubbed the Pandora Papers."
