Contrary to what the re-elected mayor of São Paulo (SP), Ricardo Nunes (MDB), the former president of the Republic and former senator, José Sarney, said that the MDB should not side with former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) in 2026.
For Sarney, the MDB should support a possible candidacy of President Lula (PT) for re-election.
The statement was made during an interview with the newspaper The State of São Paulo (Estadão)this Sunday (10).
“I’m a personal friend of Lula, I like him a lot. So, if Lula is a candidate, I am of the opinion that we should support Lula. And he’s running a good government, isn’t he? Okay. As he always did in other terms. Lula has a great presence, he came from the working class and represents the population’s vision,” said Sarney.
“He [Lula] He was the man who extended the participation of all classes in government. If it weren’t for democracy, Lula wouldn’t be a candidate for president. But with democracy, we were able to have a president recruited from the country’s workers,” he added.
Participation in the Lula government
When talking about the support for Bolsonaro committed by the mayor of São Paulo, Sarney recalled that the MDB has three ministries in the Lula government.
The acronym commands the Planning portfolios, with Simone Tebet; de Cidades, with Jader Filho; and Transport, with Renan Filho.
Municipal elections
Regarding the party’s performance in this year’s municipal elections, Sarney said that the MDB is “firm and strong”.
The party managed to elect mayors in 864 municipalities. It was the second highest mark among parties, second only to Gilberto Kassab’s PSD, which elected 891 mayors.
“What I can say is that many parties have disappeared and the MDB is firm and strong. One became one thing, another became something else. But the MDB has historical roots. The MDB’s fight was the fight for the return of the democratic regime and we were part of that fight. Because without our collaboration it would not exist”, stated Sarney.
