Today it is time to give the government a new lease of life and this new phase which is as demanding as it is inspiring requires renovated energy and new faces.

Chile needs to unite behind the goals of reducing poverty and creating more equal opportunities so that everyone can benefit from what the country has to offer.

When women earn the money for the family, everyone in the family benefits. We also know that when women have an income, everyone wins because women dedicate 90% of the income to health, education, to food security, to the children, to the family, or to the community, so when women have an income, everybody wins.

We need to have a broad debate so that the new Chilean constitution is representative of everyone. I am convinced that it cannot just be developed by an expert group. First, people at all levels will be given an opportunity to provide input. They should be allowed to express their opinions about the kind of society they would like to live in. That's the kind of open process I would like to see. The issue at hand here is finding unity on the greater rules. Afterwards, a text will be developed and presented to parliament.

Given political history in Chile, it seemed to me that there was a critical task of consolidating a democracy and creating healthy civic-military and political-military relationships.

The current global landscape is quite different from the not-too-distant past. The process of globalization has intensified, and the world is moving towards new forms of governance.

There does not have to be trade-off between growth and social protection. A democracy does not mean much if it doesn't respond to the needs and will of its people.