CHILE | Conflict of interests. The opposition Concertación held a congress on 12 April which degenerated into criticism of President Sebastián Piñera's failure to consult the Concertación about his post-earthquake reconstruction plans, while avoiding a painful post mortem of the coalition's electoral defeat in January. Of the four Concertación presidents of the Republic since 1990 - Patricio Aylwin, Eduardo Frei, Ricardo Lagos and Michelle Bachelet - only Lagos addressed the issue, saying that the defeat was “perfectly avoidable", but there was no debate over how to revitalise the coalition or formulate a clear strategy for opposition.
Frei savaged Piñera for concentrating power in his own hands. Frei's criticism was echoed outside the meeting by Andrés Allamand, a senator from Piñera's Renovación Nacional. Allamand accused Piñera of conflict of interests over his failure to offload his TV station, Chilevisión, as it is in Piñera's gift to appoint the head of the state broadcaster, TVN. Allamand previously criticised Piñera's decision to load his cabinet with technocrats - Allamand, who worked closely with Piñera during his campaign, was overlooked for a cabinet post [WR-10-07].
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