Franco Parisi, the surprise of the elections in Chile, anticipates how he will decide his support in the second round

Franco Parisi, the controversial economist who gave the surprise by finishing third in the first round of the presidential elections on Sunday in Chile, will decide if he asks for the vote in the ballot for the extreme right Jose Antonio Kast or the leftist Gabriel Boric after consulting with their militants.

“The People’s Party (PDG) -whose president is Parisi- will democratically choose who will be the next president. We went from being the most ignorant to leading the charge “the former candidate said early Tuesday during a YouTube broadcast.

Parisi, who did not travel to Chile For the elections and campaigned on social networks from his residence in the United States, he explained that he will organize the consultation during the first half of December, “hopefully inviting both candidates” to “tell their vision.”

“It is not a debate or an exam, but the idea is that they tell the PDG community what they are thinking and, from there, democratically and collectively make a decision”, added.

Against all odds, the 54-year-old liberal won 13% of the preferences with more than 800,000 votes, moving to fourth and fifth place the cards of the center-right and center-left blocs that ruled years since the transition, the ruling party Sebastián Sichel and the Christian Democrat Yasna Provoste, respectively.

Without a defined political inclination and with harsh criticism of the traditional political class and the Chilean elite, Parisi prevailed against all odds and his support for one or the other candidate will be key in the second round of December 19, where Kast and Boric arrive very even, according to polls.

It is the first time since the end of the dictatorship (1973-1990) that two very different models of a country will be fought at the polls.

closet he defends the neoliberal model, he sings a harsh anti-immigration discourse, based on order and traditional values, and more than once he has defended General Augusto Pinochet.

BoricMeanwhile, she craves a welfare state similar to the European one, with a feminist and environmentalist accent.

The professional career of Parisi, dubbed the “ghost candidate” in the campaign, has been surrounded by questions and peppered with scandals, but neither the accusations of sexual harassment of students nor an alleged arrest warrant for the non-payment of their children’s pensions managed to deflate the phenomenon. EFE

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