While in February the parties mostly paused, there was a group that dedicated itself to holding meetings, concluding talks and preparing for its arrival in March. –for the first time, except for Gaspar Rivas– to Congress. The deputies and the elected deputies of the People’s Party (PDG) took the opportunity to refine the legislative priorities, but also to set up some more political-administrative meetings: they added Francisco Pulgar, elected by Centro Unido (the political party of Dr. .File, which was dissolved).
But they also held a meeting with the deputy of the Humanist Party (another of those that was going to be dissolved), Pamela Jiles, with whom they are exploring possible administrative agreements, including the possibility of a fifth withdrawal from the pension funds, but also especially marked by the election of directors of the Chamber of Deputies and Deputies, where there was a knot between the forces of the left and center-left, which included Jiles, who sought to settle in the front the first year of the administration of the President-elect, Gabriel Boric. In the PDG they emphasized that this is not resolved –no agreement on it– with no political force.
In the PDG they know that their votes will be key to unblock discussions and, in fact, they commented that post-elections received several calls, from the left to the right, to explore rapprochements. They define themselves as a center collectivity, which will act as a “hinge party” or “a bridge between the right and the left.” Among the majority of their elected parliamentarians, they emphasized that they do not want to be an opposition party and that, for now, they do not feel any more affinity with the future government or with the future opposition, despite the fact that at least the signs so far are clearer towards the center-left than towards the right, which could mean a shift in the perception that remained, of being a party “more to the right”, after defining its institutional support for José Antonio Kast in the second presidential round.
One of the 6 deputies elected by the People’s Party, Rubén Oyarzo, emphasized that “more than aligning ourselves with the center-right, center-left or Approve Dignity, we are going to align ourselves with the people. We know and believe in the institutions, and that we have to dialogue with them, talk, and we have no problem with that”.
Who will be his colleague on the bench, Víctor Pinto, added that before the new government “we want to be a bench of proposals, propose projects that are for the benefit of the people. If the Government presents projects in favor of the quality of life of the people , of improvements in the interests that the community has, we are going to support it. And if the opposition comes to present projects, we are also going to support them if they go along those lines. We do not want to be in opposition to the government.”
The deputy-elect added that there is no affinity with the Republican Party, and that the PDG comes from the independent world, so the party as an institution does not agree with the left or the right, beyond the fact that some militants personally have more affinity with one side than the other. Regarding the image to the right left by the internal consultation in favor of Kast, Pinto clarified that “35% of the census participated in it, if I’m not mistaken, not all of them participated, and that’s where this option came out that José Antonio Kast was the majority Franco Parisi was transparent and gave his personal opinion. There, some said that the PDG was a right-wing party, and it turns out that in the election, in all the regions where Parisi obtained a very high vote, Boric won. We are a party of the center”, pointed out.
Among the legislative priorities that have been raised are citizen security, social security, irregular immigration, digital democracy, tax cuts and the possibility of exploring a fifth withdrawal of pension funds, as long as it does not generate significant economic damage. In migratory matters, for example, some within this new caucus are committed to strengthening border control and providing more technology for this to the Law Enforcement and Security forces, in addition to international coordination.
The worn and secondary Parisi
It did not go to the second round, but Franco Parisi’s results in the presidential election were not bad, considering that he did not set foot in Chile and that he was not in any of the debates, concentrating his campaign on social networks and through the online program “Bad Boys” . He thus reaffirmed his leadership within the People’s Party, but little by little in the store they have distanced themselves. some militants –In private– They recognized that, although Parisi is a singing voice in the community, his image was worn, both in the campaign and after it. For example, an internal breakdown of PDG militants was made public, where some accused of being excluded from electoral quotas to compete in campaigns, in addition to requests for money and contributions for Parisi’s trip that were never rendered and that were transferred to personal accounts. of leaders, which resulted in an investigation initiated by the Electoral Service (Servel). Further, Ciper Chile released an accounting where Parisi paid $112 million to a militant who was a senatorial candidate, for campaign material.
The elected parliamentarians have also tried to separate the waters between the work they must do in Congress and the figure of Parisi, despite highlighting him as a leader, while saying they are open to receiving his opinions and advice.
Thus, the deputy-elect Rubén Oyarzo stressed that “Franco was our presidential candidate, he is an innate and natural leader within the party. Today he is just another militant, but we obviously respect him and invite him to participate with us and advise us.” “, emphasizing that today he does not have a leading role or positions within the PDG.
The same goes for the elected deputy Víctor Pinto. He assured that “Franco is a natural leader of the PDG. Franco is in Alabama, he is not in Chile, he is far away. There is a national directive, Luis Moreno president and other people, and where Franco Parisi is not in that. Franco is one more militant, but obviously if he gives us economic advice, perhaps, according to his expertise, we will take it. As a bench we are clear that our commitment is with the people, “he said.
“Franco is a positive figure for us, because of all the affection that people have for him. The ideas of the PDG are closely linked to Franco’s ideas. If he returns to Chile, he will have the doors open to the PDG to be a candidate presidential, enter the board. We have already seen that the distance does not work. Franco has a wear on his image, for several months they were hitting him hard and anyone would like to rest from that, but that always happens through a personal decision, “added Pinto, who emphasized that they do not want to be a testimonial party that disappears, but to project themselves to the next elections.
Along the same lines, Yovana Ahumada, who will be the leader of the PDG since March and who, in an interview with Third, reinforced that Parisi is one more militant, but about whom “obviously we cannot deny his leadership, which has –Natural way– since 2013. So to pretend that he is not a natural leader of society, not only of the People’s Party, would be absurd. He is also a contribution, because he is a great economist, who has a very professional outlook and can support us in our work as a party within society.” In his opinion, “it is not good” that Parisi thinks of a new presidential adventure right now, because “she needs to rest her image and wait for the right moment. That will tell the future, of course, but nobody knows”, he pointed out.
