Undersecretaries Harboe and Barrios present resignation to President Bachelet

SANTIAGO.- Just after 10:00 AM today, the Undersecretary of Interior, Felipe Harboe (PPD), left his office and made his way to the Los Cañones Patio of the La Moneda Presidential Palace to present his resignation to President Michelle Bachelet.

Just minutes later, the Undersecretary of Culture, Arturo Barrios (PS), did the same after deciding to resign in order to run for Parliament, just the same as Harboe, who may take over the position left in Santiago by the deputy from his party, Carolina Tohá, who has decided not to run again.

Both men made their way to the office of the President moments before the Chief of State left for the inauguration ceremony at the Museo de la Memoria.

Today will be an important day at La Moneda, since the legal deadline for high level authorities to resign before running in the next parliamentary elections will expire at midnight.

One of the ministers that may be planning to leave the cabinet is the head of the Labor department, Osvaldo Andrade, who went to the second floor of the governmental headquarters early this morning. After sustaining a long meeting with President Bachelet, Andrade assured that he had not addressed the matter with her but did not rule out the possibility of resigning, while stating that "decisions should be made on a day to day basis".