The former mayor of Araraquara and former Minister Edinho Silva, 60, was elected to chair until 2029. He obtained most of the votes in the first round of the internal election held on Sunday (6). The main guarantor of his candidacy was the president.
Edinho defeated Federal Deputy Rui Falcão (SP) and the party leaders Romênio Pereira and Valter Pomar. A inauguration ceremony should be organized in early August, when the party holds its national meeting in Brasilia.
The PT, through its advisory, issued a note in the late afternoon of Monday (7) announcing the victory of Edinho, still without the final result of the internal election. Then, the current president of the acronym, Humberto Costa, said that there is still a lack of votes to be cleared, but that they are not enough to change the outcome.
According to the result released by Costa, Edinho Silva had 239,144 votes, representing 73.48%. The second place was Rui Falcão, with 36,279 votes (11.15%), followed by Romênio Pereira, with 36,009 votes (11.06%) and Valter Pomar, which received 14,006 votes (4.30%).
It is still necessary to investigate votes from Pernambuco, Bahia, Pará, Paraná and Rio de Janeiro, as well as Minas Gerais. The PT postponed the vote in Minas because of a court decision on the dispute for the local directory.
Edinho was next to Humberto Costa at the PT headquarters in Brasilia during the announcement of the result. Also attending the secretary of communication of the acronym, Jilmar Tatto, and the finance secretary, Gleide Andrade.
“I want to make a public thanks to President Lula’s trust. I will work every day to honor her,” said Edinho Silva.
He said the party’s electoral process had a unit climate and complied with his opponents – which were not in the announcement. “I will be the president of all PT currents,” he said.
He was questioned by journalists about the new party and government speech in the tax debate of rich against the poor. He said the government only responded to the National Congress, which had imposed a series of defeats to the executive around the subject.
How it showed the SheetGovernment assessment that is that opposition and centron want to weaken the government to reduce the chances of Lula’s reelection.
Edinho mentioned the importance of the reelection campaign of the current President of the Republic next year. “President Lula’s reelection means building a country without privileges,” he said.
He also praised former party president and current Minister Gleisi Hoffmann, who left office in February to take over the government’s institutional relations.
“In my assessment, it was the greatest leader in PT history. She directed the PT at the worst moment in our history,” he said in a reference to the Lava Jato Operation period.
Edinho Silva also defended special attention to party communication and the elaboration of proposals to areas such as public safety and public transportation.
There were about 3 million petistas able to vote, according to the party. In Minas Gerais, the elections were postponed after the court ordered the dispute for the state presidency.
The caption stated that there was no time to put the name of the deputy in the banknotes and decided not to vote on the day.
The court decision was overturned shortly thereafter, and the election of the Minas Gerais PT is expected to be held next Sunday (13) – the party’s national directory will beat the hammer on the date of meeting on Tuesday (8), although Costa has already talked about the topic as a fait accompli.
The former mayor of Araraquara will be president of the PT during the 2026 elections, when Lula is expected to try a new term in front of the Planalto Palace. If the tradition of the party is maintained, Edinho will be the campaign coordinator.
He must act to ensure an alliance with the subtitles that make up the governing base or at least prevent them from supporting a direct opponent of Lula.
Before the announcement of the victory, Edinho told the Sheet That it will be necessary to evaluate the situation of each state to ensure not only reelection but also governability in a possible fourth term. He also promised to work to unite the party and minimize contradictions between the internal currents.
“The party has to unify for us to face the difficulties that are placed and succeed in what is the center of our tactic, which is the reelection of President Lula. And I will work tirelessly for the PT unit,” he said.
One of the missions of the new PT president will be the definition of a successor to Lula, for future elections. During the petist debates, Edinho preached preparation for disputes without the president and recalled that the 2026 election will be the last with his name at the polls.
“I want to reproduce a phrase from President Lula here, which for me she is historical and emblematic: ‘President Lula’s successor will not be a name. President Lula’s successor will be the PT,'” said the now leader elected in his campaign.
Another challenge lies in the need for party rejuvenation, evangelical dialogue and formulating a public safety agenda.
“We have to improve our operation, our organization, so that we dialogue with the new working class, so that we dialogue with evangelical communities. It is clear our difficulty in dialogue with evangelical communities,” he added.
Edinho’s victory should also give more tranquility to the Finance Minister ,. Under the presidency of today Minister of Institutional Relations, the party even released a document criticizing what it classified as the government’s fiscal austericide.
Edinho’s election does not close negotiations on the power division within the PT. Party trends have until July 26 to choose the names that will assume the other positions towards the acronym.
The former mayor has a conciliatory profile and is one of the most moderate petist leaders. Nevertheless, he will take command as the party guinens his left speech after a series of defeats in Congress, which.
He will also have to deal with internal divisions even within the political group of which he is part, the current CNB (building a new Brazil).
Edinho was unable, for example, to impose a name of his trust on the party’s Finance Secretariat. Most likely, the current occupant of the position, CNB Gleide Andrade, remains at the post or indicate who will succeed it.
Lula manifested from last year to allies his support to Edinho. He used his political weight so that important party figures, such as Gleisi, also endorse the former mayor of Araraquara.
