MARCH 11 HANDOVER OF POWER TO CONTINUE DESPITE EARTHQUAKE

March 4, 2010
By Catherine Reyes-Housholder
SANTIAGO DE CHILE – According to the 1980 constitution written during the Pinochet dictatorship, the handover of power to the president-elect of Chile must occur on March 11.
Although there was talk a few days ago of postponing the government transition, now no doubt remains that the constitution must be respected despite the massive earthquake and tsunami waves that have jolted and traumatized much of the country and killed more than 800.
Center-right President-elect Sebastián Piñera announced on Thursday in the weathly neighborhood of Las Condes in Santiago two key appointments of regional authorities in order to speed up the process. Particularly important was the appointment of current Concepción Mayor Jacqueline van Rysselberghe as the Intendente, or governor, of the Region of Bío-Bío. Van Rysselberghe was one of the most critical and outspoken public figures this week as she complained the national authorities were too slow to send in the military to control the widespread looting in her city, the second largest in Chile.



In the past few years there were whispers of a possible presidential run for Van Rysselberghe, a mother of six and member of the right UDI party and of Opus Dei. This appointment will increase her public profile which could favor her political future on the national stage. Her political orientation, religiosity and go-to-it attitude is reminiscent of former governor of Alaska Sarah Palin.
Piñera will replace President Michelle Bachelet, the first woman to govern all of Chile and the most popular president in the past 20 years. He is the first center-right politician to win the presidency since the end of the Pinochet dictatorship in 1989. Since 1989, four presidents from the center-left Concertación coalition have managed the nation.
Piñera met with Bachelet on Friday and the pair agreed that the transition ceremony on March 11 would be “austere.“
Bachelet is known for her “maternal“ charisma which marked her national public personae since her presidential campaign in 2005. This morning Piñera – who was frequently criticized during his presidential campaign for seeming too “cold“ – tried to show a softer side of himself when he said the regions of Chile should no longer be called by their numbers, but by their “beautiful“ names. He added that these names should more “affection“ to the regions.
The dictator Pinochet divided the country into regions and assigned them numbers. Today Chile has 15 regions – numbered from north to south. In addition to their numeric names, they have more poetic appellations, such as Maule (Region VII) and Bío-Bío (Region VIII) – the regions most devasted in the aftermath of the earthquake.
If in the next four years, Piñera and van Rysselberghe do exceptionally well in their reconstruction efforts, van Rysselberghe could have a shot at a presidential run in 2013. The Chilean constitution forbids consecutive presidential terms, so Piñera could not run again, but Bachelet could. No polls have yet measured Bachelet´s approval ratings since the earthquake. Those ratings almost reached 80 percent prior to the disaster – making another presidential bid in 2013 a strong possibility.