UDI to back Grau accusation but won't sign it, citing debt figure concerns

Jorge Alessandri, president of Chile's Chamber of Deputies and a member of the UDI party, announced that his party will not formally sign the constitutional accusation against former Minister of Finance Nicolás Grau. However, the UDI intends to vote in favor of the accusation when it is presented in the Chamber.

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The UDI resolved not to sign it, but to vote for it in the Chamber, for a very clear reason: the text gives us guarantees that it was done seriously, that there is a constitutional violation and there are numbers that were inflated or hidden.

The accusation, driven by the Republican and Liberal National parties, stems from alleged inconsistencies totaling 9.6 trillion pesos in the previous government's debt projections, as detailed in the Public Finance Report for the first quarter of 2026. Alessandri stated that the UDI's decision to support the accusation, despite not signing it, is based on the belief that the text was prepared seriously and indicates a constitutional violation with inflated or concealed figures.

Alessandri urged unity within the government coalition, warning that division among government votes in the Chamber would be the "worst scenario." He also expressed concern that the accusation might not secure the necessary votes to pass to the Senate. This call for unity comes as some members of Chile Vamos have criticized the timing of the accusation, which was announced during the debate over a major reform.

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We believe that the worst scenario is the division of government votes in the Chamber, and the second worst scenario is that it does not get the votes it needs to pass to the Senate.

Meanwhile, the RN party's bloc is maintaining a wait-and-see approach. Diego Schalper, head of the RN deputies, stated that his party has not received official confirmation from the UDI leadership and will conduct a thorough legal review of the accusation once it is formally presented. He acknowledged that there are differing views within the RN bloc and that a decision will be made after consulting with party members. The accusation is expected to be formally submitted to Congress next week, before the June 11 deadline, which marks three months since Grau's departure from his ministerial post.

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We want to be extremely responsible. We are going to wait for the document, which I understand is presented next week, and once we have it, we are going to review it legally. From there, we are going to convene a bloc meeting, where – and it is known to public opinion – there are different views, and in that context we will make a decision.