Diego Alfredo Paulsen Kehr (born 1 August 1987) is a Chilean politician who served as the President of the Chamber of Deputies from 2020 to 2022, and as has been a member of the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

since 2020, representing District 22 of Araucanía. He is the youngest person to hold the position of President of the Chamber of Deputies, being elected in April 2020 at the age of 32. As President of the Chamber of Deputies, Paulsen is third in the presidential line of succession, after the Minister of the Interior and Public Security and the

President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the Speaker (politics), speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's Order of succession, succes ...

. Paulsen was first elected to

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

in 2013 representing District 49 of Araucanía and then reelected in 2017 representing the newly created District 22. He is a member of the liberal conservative National Renewal Party.

Early life and education

Paulsen was born in

Temuco Temuco () is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune, capital (political), capital of the Cautín Province and of the Araucanía Region in southern Chile. The city is located south of Santiago de Chile, Santiago. The cit ...

to a family of Danish and German descent. He graduated from

Adolfo Ibáñez University The Adolfo Ibáñez University () (UAI) is a private research university in Santiago, Chile associated with the Adolfo Ibáñez Foundation. In 1988, in accordance with new educational legislation, a university was founded based on the Valparaiso ...

with a law degree and earned a

postgraduate diploma fILE:Prédio Pós Graduação IMECC Unicamp.jpg, The State University of Campinas, as well as many Brazilian universities, offer Postgraduate courses in Brazil A postgraduate diploma (PgD, PgDip, PGDip, PG Dip., PGD, Dipl. PGD) is a postgraduat ...

in law and parliamentary administration at the

Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso The Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso () (PUCV), also known as ''Universidad Católica de Valparaíso'' (UCV), is one of six Catholic universities in Chile and one of the two pontifical universities in the country, along with th ...

Career

Paulsen worked as a legal consultant for various businesses from 2007 to 2012. In 2012, he began working as a consultant for National Renewal's parliamentary committee. The following year, Paulsen won the primaries and became a congressional candidate for the 49th district of the

Araucanía Region The Araucanía ( ), La Araucanía Region ( ) is one of Chile's 16 first-order administrative divisions, and comprises two provinces: Malleco in the north and Cautín in the south. Its capital and largest city is Temuco; other important cities ...

. Paulsen was elected with 26.26% of the votes and began his term as a member of the Chamber of Deputies in 2014. Paulsen presided an investigative commission regarding the University of Art & Social Sciences (ARCIS) and its

accreditation Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

process. He was also part of an investigative commission regarding public spending on primary health care and hospital infrastructure. In 2017, he was reelected to the Chamber of the Deputies representing District 22 of the Araucanía Region.

Political positions

Abortion

Paulsen is against abortion. In 2017, he voted against a bill that sought to legalize abortion under special circumstances.

Death penalty

In 2016, Paulsen voted in favor of a bill that attempted to reinstate the death penalty in Chile. The bill was rejected in the Chamber of Deputies with 111 votes against and 13 votes in favor.

Same-sex marriage

In a 2014 interview with The Clinic, Paulsen stated that he was against

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

but in favor of

civil union A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, primarily created to provide legal recognition for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage, with ch ...

Electoral history

2013 Parliamentary Elections

* 2013 parliamentary elections for deputy of District 49 (

Curacautín Curacautín, which means "Gathering Stone" in Mapudungun, is a Communes of Chile, commune and List of cities in Chile, city in the Chilean province of Malleco Province, Malleco. Curacautín is located 90 kilometres northeast of Temuco, in a valley ...

Galvarino Galvarino (died c. November 30, 1557) was a famous Mapuche warrior during majority of the early part of the Arauco War. He fought and was taken prisoner along with one hundred and fifty other Mapuche, in the Battle of Lagunillas against governor ...

Lautaro Lautaro (Anglicized as 'Levtaru') ( " swift hawk") (; 1534 – April 29, 1557) was a young Mapuche toqui known for leading the indigenous resistance against Spanish conquest in Chile and developing the tactics that would continue to be empl ...

, Lonquimay, Melipeuco, Perquenco, Victoria and

Vilcún Vilcún (Mapudungun for "lizard") is a Chilean List of towns in Chile, town and Communes of Chile, commune in Cautín Province, Araucanía Region. The town is an important gateway for tourists visiting Conguillío National Park and Llaima volcano. ...

)

2017 Parliamentary Elections

* 2017 parliamentary elections for deputy of District 22 (

Angol Angol is a commune and capital city of the Malleco Province in the Araucanía Region of southern Chile. It is located at the foot of the Cordillera de Nahuelbuta and next to the Vergara River, that permitted communications by small boats to the ...

, Collipulli,

, Ercilla,

, Lonquimay, Los Sauces, Melipeuco, Perquenco,

Purén Purén is a List of cities in Chile, city (2002 pop. 12,868) and Communes of Chile, commune in Malleco Province of La Araucanía Region, Chile. It is located in the west base of the Cordillera de Nahuelbuta (650 km. south of Santiago). The ec ...

, Renaico, Traiguén, Victoria and

)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paulsen, Diego 1987 births Living people People from Temuco National Renewal (Chile) politicians Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile Chilean people of Danish descent Chilean people of German descent Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso alumni 21st-century Chilean lawyers Adolfo Ibáñez University alumni Chilean anti-abortion activists Deputies of the LIV Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Deputies of the LV Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile