Finally, and despite the attempts to foster unity within the government alliance, the PPD board of directors ratified this Friday the decision of the party’s National Council to bet on two pro-government lists and agree with the Radical Party (PR) and the DC for the elections of constitutional councilors. In this regard, the president of the community, Natalia Piergentilli, denied the rumor about possible pressure exerted in the last few hours by a group of PPD leaders, including former ministers and other historical figures such as Guido Girardi, to turn towards the single list.
In this regard, the PPD helmsman stated that “conversations always take place in politics, the point is that there are certain things that do not have a setback, for obvious reasons (…) For us it was a surprise that the PS did not continue in the list of Democratic Socialism, since on many occasions he assured it so. But party decisions do not depend only on allies, but also on convictions. We continue to believe that this position will help win over a large majority of Chilean men and women. We bet to a broad unit, not a reduced unit,” said Piergentilli, who confirmed that she will compete as a candidate for the Constitutional Council for the Metropolitan Region.
In this context, a source within the party assured that the decision of the PS to agree with Appruebo Dignidad caused a strong shake that caused the electoral panorama to be not entirely promising for the PPD, considering its eventual alliance only with the DC and the Radical Party. But from the community they consider that, despite the adversities they could face, it is relevant to reaffirm their conviction around the two lists, in the sense of reviving a center alliance that distances itself from extreme positions.
The same source recalled that the support base of Democratic Socialism was fundamental for the election of Gabriel Boric in the second round, since in his opinion, in the first round it was demonstrated that between the PC and the Broad Front they did not add up to more than 25% of the citizen support, and that the determining factor in the victory in said presidential elections was the electorate of the center-left parties. Hence, it is essential for them to differentiate themselves and generate an electoral alternative, which in their opinion has no relationship with supporting the government’s political project, which is not in question.
In this regard, the idea of differentiation has to do, as revealed by the source close to the PPD board of directors, with reinstalling a space of representation linked to the political center, which incorporates the Christian Democrats. In his opinion, his vision regarding the search for democratic agreements distances himself from the discourse of the Approve Dignity collectivities, especially the Communist Party. “The PC was not on the democratic path to defeat Pinochet and it was not part of the political agreement in the heat of the social outbreak. There is not much in common between them and us,” he affirmed.
Finally, and in relation to the role played by the Minister of the Interior, Carolina Tohá, being one of the promoters of the unitary list in the ruling party, in contravention of her party’s position, the PPD considers that it is correct for Tohá to prioritize her role as Secretary of State over her militancy, since her duty as a minister is precisely to support the President’s decisions. In this case, in relation to a desperate attempt to summon unity in a fragmented ruling party.
