Representative Antonio Brito (PSD-BA) announced this Wednesday (13) the withdrawal of his candidacy for the presidency of the Chamber of Deputies. At a press conference, accompanied by party colleagues and the president of the PSD, Gilberto Kassab, Brito revealed that he decided to support deputy Hugo Motta (Republicanos-PB) in the dispute for the position.
According to Brito, his decision reflects the majority will of the PSD bench, which supports Motta, as long as the proportionality criterion is respected, with a focus on vacancies for the largest benches. According to the agreement reached, the party should have, next year, the presidency of the Mixed Budget Committee (CMO), in addition to the 3rd or 4th Secretariat of the Board of Directors.
“The bench decided, on my proposal, to withdraw our candidacy for mayor so that we can continue the ongoing process, with the other leaders of the House and support Hugo Motta”, declared Brito, who is the current leader of the party bloc formed by MDB, PSD, Republicans and Podemos, the second largest bloc in the House.
With Brito’s departure, the race for mayor is officially between two candidates: Hugo Motta (Republicanos-PB) and Elmar Nascimento (União-BA).
In July of this year, Brito was identified as one of the candidates with the greatest support from government supporters and even allies of former president Jair Bolsonaro. However, the preference for Brito changed after the PT and PL confirmed their support for Hugo Motta.
Last week, Motta won the support of PSDB, Cidadania, PSB and PDT for his candidacy. He now has the formal support of sixteen parties, in addition to the support of President Arthur Lira (PP-AL), which totals more than 400 votes, while 257 votes are needed for the election – the absolute majority of the 513 deputies.
The election that will define the new Board of Directors is scheduled for the beginning of February, with the date still being confirmed. In addition to the position of president, the occupants of the roles of 1st and 2nd vice-presidents, and 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th secretaries, who make up the Board of Directors of the Chamber, will be defined.
