Original article: “Respeto la decisión del Partido de la Gente”: Jara refuerza puntos en común con Parisi y destaca la eliminación del IVA a los medicamentos

«I Respect the Decision of the People’s Party»: Jara Emphasizes Common Points with Parisi and Highlights Elimination of VAT on Medications

The leader of Unidad por Chile, Jeannette Jara, stated that she respects the decision made by the People’s Party (PDG), which, through an internal virtual consultation, chose not to support any of the presidential candidates facing off in the upcoming runoff on December 14.

«I absolutely respect the decisions made by the People’s Party and its consultation processes,» she expressed in a message shared on her social media account on X.

According to the results of the online consultation held this Sunday among its members, the official stance of the PDG for the presidential runoff will be to vote either null or blank.

Nationally, Jeannette Jara received 2% of the preferences, while the Republican candidate José Antonio Kast received 20% support, and the option for a null/blank vote garnered 78% backing from the members.

«In accordance with this voting, and fully respecting the voice of our members, the PDG adopts null or blank as the official position for the second round,» stated the party in a release from its national board.

Jara Emphasizes Common Points with Parisi

After learning of the decision, Jara indicated she would reinforce the common points in the proposal presented by the PDG candidate, Franco Parisi, who garnered 2,552,649 votes (19.71%) in the first round, finishing in third place.

«The results we have seen only strengthen my need to communicate more vigorously the common points we share with Franco. We both share a central concern: the high cost of living in our country and the need to ease the financial burden on families,» she affirmed.

Elimination of VAT on Medications

She recalled that her program, titled «Sumando Cambia Chile,» incorporated initiatives originally promoted by UDI candidate Evelyn Matthei, independents Marco Enríquez-Ominami and Harold Mayne-Nicholls, as well as Parisi.

Among these initiatives is the proposal to refund VAT on medications put forth by the PDG candidate.

«That’s why I have included measures he proposed, such as the elimination of VAT on medications,» Jara stated.

This measure includes a monthly VAT refund for purchases made with prescriptions and digital payments, capped at $25,000 per person. The implementation of the refund is expected to be managed by the SII through electronic invoices, starting with Fonasa users.

It is noteworthy that following the first round, the economic advisor to the ruling candidate revealed that her campaign team is designing the incorporation of two key proposals from the former PDG candidate: the VAT refund on medications and a reform in the public sector.

«If one looks at Franco Parisi’s program, one will find that there was a detailed effort to seek, just as in our program, elements to improve people’s material living conditions and the concerns surrounding the cost of living,» she declared in an interview with Radio Infinita.