Narciso Irureta

Narciso Irureta Aburto (30 June 1924 − 26 December 2005) was a Chilean politician of Basque descent.

Political career Early political involvement He began his political career in 1939 when he joined the newly established National Falange. During his university years, he served as national leader of the Falangist university movement, and from 1945 was a member of the party's National Board.

In 1957, he became a founding member of the Christian Democratic Party (PDC). That same year, he joined the party's National Council and served as president of its 8th district organization. In 1959, he was appointed national secretary of the party, and in 1960 became its national president.

Parliamentary career In the 1965 Chilean parliamentary election, he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for the 24th Departmental Constituency, comprising Llanquihue, Puerto Varas, Maullín, Calbuco, Aysén, Coyhaique, and Chile Chico. He served during the 1965–1969 legislative term and was a member of the standing committees on Finance and on Mining and Industry. Within the Christian Democratic Party, he also served as first vice president from 1966 to 1967. During his tenure, he served as alternate member of the standing committees on Foreign Relations, Constitution, Legislation, Justice and Rules, Finance, and Mining. Between 1982 and 1985, he served as the party's second vice president, and from 1987 to 1990 as first vice president, during the years when opposition political parties operated clandestinely under the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

In June 1994, he co-authored an article with other Christian Democratic leaders on the family and divorce, expressing strong opposition to the legalization of divorce with dissolution of marriage.

He served as Minister of Transport and Telecommunications from 1994 to 1996 during the administration of Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle. Among his responsibilities, he became the first minister to chair the National Traffic Safety Commission.