The owner of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) Azucena Arbeleche He referred to both his future and that of the political force he is part of once the primaries are over, with the data from the Accountability Report 2023 still hot and facing the challenges that the government will have to face in the run-up to the general elections in October and during the almost eight months that remain in office.
Arbeleche She is one of the leaders who does not tend to talk about the more political aspect of government administration, but rather feels more comfortable among the data and numbers that abound in her portfolio. She is one of the technical tables, Some will say. However, it is no less important in the scheme of things. National Party and the coalition. In fact, it was one of the names that was most mentioned among the white ranks to accompany the formula headed by Alvaro Delgado, before the primaries but with our sights already set on October.
Asked if she would hold a position again in the next government – the current minister was director of the Debt Management Unit (UGD) of the MEF during the last Frente Amplio administration of Tabare Vazquez, which is why he is on his way to accumulating 10 years of experience in key roles for the national economy—, Arbeleche He did not dare to give details.
“Honestly, I’m totally focused on work today at the Ministry of Economy and Financeit is very absorbing, it is a 24/7 job. I am not thinking about what will happen in the next period,” he said, in an interview with El Espectador radio. However, he did acknowledge that he is part of Delgado’s team and that, in case of winning the elections and there being a second period for the coalition, he will see “from what position” he will have to work and contribute.
This line of conversation also led to another question, following speculation leading up to the night of June 30 that placed the head of the MEF as a possible candidate to accompany the former Secretary of the Presidency in the formula for October. But Arbeleche, True to his measured character, he did not fuel any subsequent controversy that could be maintained after the appointment of the former union member. Valeria Ripoll in that role.
“I’m not going to talk about an answer when I didn’t talk about a question,” he said, referring to the fact that he did not comment on the matter when the rumors were active and the possible nationalist pairing was still being discussed. In any case, he did acknowledge that he had conversations with Delgado, although he maintained that these “remain in the private sphere.”
Regarding the duo with Ripoll, he considered: “Today we have a very good formula that emerged that night, and the National Party is ready to carry out the second level of transformations.”
The real “electoral carnival” for the minister
Another topic of conversation during the interview, inevitably, was the presentation of the 2023 Accountability Report to the Parliament, and the criticism received from the opposition. In this regard, Arbeleche referred to the term “electoral carnival”, used by the Broad Front when pointing out some government expenses, as well as the adjustment of the fiscal projections by the end of this year.
“There is no way we can say that there is an electoral carnival here,” said the leader. “We are talking about the same thing.” nominal expenditure “than we had a year ago,” he explained, although he added that today it is “a little bit greater because reinforcements have been given for floods.”
In this sense, the minister counterattacked: “Electoral carnival is calling for there to be a plebiscite to go backwards with the reform of social security, a reform that was necessary, that had to be done, that implies more inter and intra-generational justice. Something that took months.” “It would be nonsense to go backwards. It means making the system unsustainable or increasing taxes, which is not being discussed,” he added.
Source: Ambito