On Wednesday, the Chilean government formalized its decision to directly appoint the new national director of the Biodiversity and Protected Areas Service (SBAP). The move, announced by the Ministry of Finance, utilizes a legal provision known as the "silver bullet" to bypass the standard competitive selection process for high-level public management.
Through a decree signed by President José Antonio Kast and Ministers Jorge Quiroz (Finance) and Francisca Toledo (Environment), the Executive invoked Law 19.882. This regulation allows the President to bypass public selection processes for up to 12 strategic positions during the onset of a new administration.
The official document states that the decision aims to facilitate the transition of the new administration and address the programmatic priorities of the current term. According to the text, it was deemed appropriate for the position of National Director of the SBAP to be exempted under the terms of article thirty-sixth bis of the aforementioned law.
Requirements and Precedents
Despite the direct appointment, regulations require the appointee to meet the legal requirements and competency profiles approved by the High Public Management Council. The decree specifies that this power will be exercised only once for this specific position; therefore, any future vacancies must return to the regular selection mechanism.
The decision comes at a complex time for the agency, which began operations in February of this year. The implementation of the SBAP has faced technical and political delays, including the current government's suspension of the process to determine priority sites, scheduled for March 2026.
Environmental authorities justified the suspension due to the high volume of submissions received, totaling nearly 10,000 observations that require detailed analysis. The public consultation process regarding priority sites had already been extended in October 2025 by the previous administration following pressure from the business sector.
With this move, the government adds the SBAP to a list of institutions already filled via direct appointment. Other positions already appointed under this scheme include the national director of the SII, Fonasa, the Superintendency of Health, the Superintendency of Pensions, and the executive director of the Environmental Evaluation Service.