Irina Karamanos is the partner of Chilean president-elect Gabriel Boric. Socialist, Mr Gabriel Boric won a convincing victory on 19 December.
Gabriel Boric, won on a promise of social and fiscal transformation of the country, and last Sunday in an epic victory speech promised “more social rights” as well as“financial responsible”.
“There will be more social rights, but we will do it while remaining financially responsible,” said the 35-year-old new president, addressing a crowd of tens of thousands of supporters who went to hear him after his second-round victory over Far-right candidate José Antonio Kast.
Even before Mr Boric was elected, his partner, Ms Karamanos warned that she found the title and role of “First Lady” obsolete.
According to Chilean media, the new 35-year-old president of the Chile has been in a relationship with Irina Karamanos for about two and a half years.
Ms Karamanos made her appearance on the political scene only a few weeks ago, when she joined Mr Boric when managed to pass to the second round of the crucial election.
Until that moment, wrote La Nación, the socialist Mr Boric referred to Ms Karamanos as a “comrade”. Now he calls her by her name: Irina.
“Some believe that the feminist and women’s rights activist has recently stepped-up public appearances with him in the run-up to the polls, in a bid to attract more traditional voters who want to see a candidate accompanied by a woman.
“But there is a detail that dispels the conservative illusion: Karamanos announced that she can resign from the role of First Lady in case of election of her partner, something that finally happened with a bigger difference than expected.
“I think that is a role that we have to rethink, because we live in different times and much has changed.
“‘We have to rethink the power and relationships that emerge from it,’ she said last week on a TV show.” wrote La Nación.
Ms Karamanos’ view echoes that of Mr Boric’s, who had stressed that the role of “First Lady” does not make sense.
He said that “there should be no positions in the state that stem from relations of the President with other persons or are connected with them.”
Boric stressed transparency as a key platform for his election, where one could gain a position of power because of his worth and not because of blood ties or friendly relations with the president.
Mr Karamanos is 32 years old, she rarely accompanies her partner to social events; she does not like to talk about her personal life.
She studied anthropology and social sciences, and speaks four languages: Spanish, Greek (her father is Greek), English and German.
Mr Gabriel Boric will take power on 11 March.