Former ministers from (), () and (PT) began a mobilization to convince the political class and voters to isolate the radical right in the 2026 elections and stop what they call extortion of the Budget by Congress, via amendments.
The group organized the “Let’s Go Forward” manifesto, which as of this Wednesday (15) had 83 signatures. Among the signatories are former ministers , (Lula government), (FHC), , (Dilma) and (who served the three governments).
The creators say they seek ideological breadth. Articulated over the last four months, the document was also endorsed by representatives of civil society, academics, businesspeople and lawyers. The material will also be open for subscription on a website, in order to increase its reach.
The main criticism of the letter is the influence in Congress “of oligarchic and physiological groups, which are dedicated to extorting, for their own benefit, public budgets”.
Parliamentary amendments, as shown by Sheet. The authors’ assessment is that the lack of control over spending subverts the institutional relationship between the Powers.
“We have a very concrete and specific objective, which is to rebuild the lost dignity of the city”, says Tarso Genro, one of those who lead the self-styled civic movement.
The initiative went through the Novos Paradigmas Institute, founded by the PT member and former governor of Rio Grande do Sul. For him, it is not fair to generalize the conduct of parliamentarians, but what he calls a “political bloc of budgetary extortion” has harmed the Executive and will continue to block the president, be he of any political color, for “subjecting him to a perverse parliamentarism”.
The letter also proposes to the democratic field that it undertakes not to form alliances with parties or representatives “of the authoritarian right and the extreme right”. It also repudiates rapprochement with “any party organizations that propose dictatorships of any nature.”
According to Tarso Genro, the group rules out announcing support for a presidential candidate and seeks to encourage the union of efforts not only at the national level, but also in the states, to defend democracy and the terms of the 1988 Constitution. The central axis, says the PT member , is to “change the composition of Parliament”.
The letter does not mention names, but alludes to the former president () by citing “the legacy of the previous government, with a fiscal deficit of R$782 billion, dismantling of institutions and public policies, retrograde denial of universal scientific intelligence, propagation of violence militia and the cult of death”. For the authors, these “are also a perverse legacy” from which the country must be defended.
The point of consensus in the group is that strengthening democracy “will only be possible with the support of a unified political field”, which demarcates differences between democracy and “between electoral political fronts without principles and electoral fronts based on minimal principles”.
states that one of the intentions is to replicate the mobilization in other regions, influencing a national front. “It is a call to the broad spectrum of institutions that defend democracy in search of a consensual and negotiated solution to the situation we are in”, says the former minister.
He emphasizes, however, that the initial group of the manifesto “has no ambition to interfere in the parties, but rather in the political thinking of voters”.
The text talks about “establishing communication between the multiple democratic visions —in the states and in the Union itself— to seek points of unity towards new political fronts, with their regional specificities, in the first round or, alternatively, in the second round”
Signatures were included in order of accession. The last one, so far, is that of Jobim, who in addition to being minister of the FHC, Lula and Dilma administrations was president of the (Supreme Federal Court).
Sociologist José César Martins, known as Zeca, coordinator of , says he signed the manifesto because it proposes to bring together “a very broad front” and because he understands that it is necessary to “unify democrats” and embrace differences around a value that is non-negotiable.
“But democracy demands delivery”, he states, mentioning challenges such as climate transition, overcoming inequalities and crises in education and public security.
“For this we need to reinvent ourselves and give a shock of changes and progress, [sendo] firm, without ‘owner of the ball’ and concessions to the right or left, although the most serious problem now comes from the extreme right”, continues Zeca, adding that “dictatorship is dictatorship”.
