The Council for Transparency should have constitutional status
By Andres Kogan Valderrama
HAVANA TIMES – The recent Hermosilla case, which is uncovering serious corruption in Chile, involving lawyer Luis Hermosilla with potential payments to officials of the Internal Revenue Service, the Commission for the Financial Market, and even the Investigations Police, once again places the lack of a more solid institutional framework regarding probity and transparency at the center of the discussion.
Hence, this case can be seen not only as another scandal in a long list of episodes that should embarrass us as Chileans, as is seen daily in many municipalities. It is also a historic opportunity to take profound measures and make structural changes that serve to dignify the role of the State and the institutions that support it.
One of those necessary and urgent reforms that could be carried out is to grant constitutional status to the Council for Transparency. Thus, like other autonomous bodies such as the Central Bank, the General Comptroller of the Republic, the National Television Council, the Electoral Service, the Constitutional Tribunal, or the Public Ministry, which have been greatly strengthened by being part of the constitution.
Consequently, what is at stake is that the current powers of the Council for Transparency, such as promoting, overseeing, and sanctioning state entities in matters of advertising, transparency, and access to information (acts, justifications, and procedures), as well as the appointment of its c