Amid the crack that occurs in to define who will be the next president of the party, Rui Falcão (SP) launched, on Monday (14), his candidacy for the presidency of the acronym.
The parliamentarian said his candidacy is more about the direction of the party and less about “who is in charge of the cashier.” The phrase was a reference to the internal disputes on the PT Treasury Command, one of the reasons for Edinho Silva’s rupture with other petistas.
Edinho, former mayor of Araraquara, is the candidate supported by the president. Despite belonging to the PT’s majority trend, CNB (building a new Brazil), Edinho has many of its peers. In addition to the two, Romênio Pereira, from the PT Movement, and Valter Pomar, from the left articulation, are also candidates. The mayor of Maricá (RJ) also says he will compete.
“I am convinced that our candidacy is essential to the challenges we have to face and so that President Lula can earn his fourth term in 2026. The PT must be up to the serious crisis of world democracy,” Falcão said at the event.
The deputy said that if he is elected president, he will give up his mandate as a federal deputy.
“We cannot sacrifice our identity and our projects at risk of losing support from our social base,” he said. “The PT cannot become a repetition box of the federal administration,” he added.
The event took place at the Union of Engineers, in downtown São Paulo and brought together representatives of different currents of the PT, called internally “trends”, who see in it.
Falcão belongs to the new direction, a minority wing inside the acronym. He chaired the PT in two periods (1993-1994 and 2011-2017) and has, among its priorities, the end of the 6×1 work scale and Lula’s reelection in 2026. He is supported by two former party presidents (José Genoino and Olivio Dutra) and federal and state deputies.
The election will be in July this year and works directly by the vote of the affiliates. Currently, Senator Humberto Costa (PE) commands the party interimly after resigning to assume as Minister of Institutional Relations of the Lula government. The expectation of the petistas is that Falcon and Edinho dispute the second round.
In 2022, the two were coordinators of Lula’s campaign to the Presidency of the Republic with Sidônio Palmeira, currently Minister of Secom (Secretariat of Communication of the Presidency).
On Monday, José Genoino, when starting the speeches, said that one of the purposes of Falcão’s candidacy should be “pressing and flexing our government to the left.”
“The left has to achieve its relevance and protagonism. It has to make a dispute without fear of being left, without fear of being socialist,” he said.
The militants present used stickers with the sayings “turn left”. The organizers read, at the beginning of the event, letters of Valter Pomar and Romênio Pereira, opponents of Falcão, with praise to the deputy and criticism of the candidacy of Edinho. Federal deputies recorded support videos-between them Rogério Correia (MG), deputy leader of the Lula administration in the House-which were shown on the big screen.
The event were the names Federal Deputy Kiko Celeguim, president of the PT in São Paulo, the state deputy Maurici (SP), the lawyer Marco Aurélio Carvalho, from the Prerogatives Group, and Claudinho Silva, former policeor of the police of São Paulo.
PT’s four -trends representatives – socialist family, dialogue and petista action, Avante and New Rumo – joined the table alongside Falcon and argued that the party resume base militancy. They also made criticism of the centron, with which the Lula government has sought agreements to approve its agenda.
“We end up serving as a neck and ladder for political groups that have nothing to do with us,” said former federal deputy Luiz Eduardo Greenhalgh.
Former councilor and former state deputy by Sao Paulo, José Américo said the PT was always elected when he presented proposals to the left and that it is not the role of the party to adapt to Congress.
“Adapting and escaping the conflict many parties can do. What only we can do is social and political dispute in our country. The rich need to pay more taxes. We need to transform our party, be fights and campaigns,” he said.
From the formal registration, Rui Falcão will be entitled to ten plane trips and a hosting to campaign around the country. He launched a virtual kitty to help fund the candidacy.
In May, when the registration period of the candidacies ends, the debates will begin between the candidates.
The deputy said to Sheet that there is great expectation around this election because the last direct vote in the PT occurred in 2013.
