Casualties signal that PP managers prefer to remain allies with the PSD political group, led by governor Ratinho Júnior, rather than embark on the pre-candidacy of the former judge of Operation Lava Jato
The pre-candidacy of the senator (União Brasil) for the government of Paraná caused a stampede of Progressistas (PP) mayors in the State. Of the 61 mayors elected in 2024, 18 have left the acronym since the officialization of the PP’s federation with União Brasil, which brought with it Moro’s pre-candidacy for the state Executive. The survey of the report considered party affiliation certificates from the Superior Electoral Court (). According to PP leaders in Paraná, however, the number of dissidents is even greater, reaching half of the bench elected in the last election. When contacted, Moro did not speak out.
The losses signal that PP managers prefer to remain allies with the PSD political group, led by governor Ratinho Júnior, rather than embark on Moro’s pre-candidacy. The former judge of Operation Lava Jato leads the voting intention polls, but faces raids within the federation and the party itself to go to Palácio Iguaçu, headquarters of the government of Paraná.
Of the 18 PP dissidents, 11 remain without a party, while 7 migrated to the PSD. Leaders of Progressistas in Paraná allege that the party’s mayors were pressured by the threat of not signing agreements and partnerships with the state government. The Secretary of Cities of Paraná, Guto Silva, denies any type of pressure on municipal managers.
“These mayors had a very strong connection with the government and did not want to be handed a project that is not theirs on a platter. Before, PP and União Brasil were together with the governor”, said Silva. “There was no pressure. Everyone received resources from the State.” The Secretariat of Cities is the main political articulation department of the government of Paraná, and Silva is considered as a PSD nominee to succeed Ratinho Júnior. In addition to the secretary, the president of the Legislative Assembly of Paraná (Alep), Alexandre Curi (PSD), is running for nomination.
Amid the impasse in the PSD, Sergio Moro leads the race for Iguaçu, according to a survey by Genial/Quaest released on August 22. The former judge registers 38% of voting intentions in the stimulated scenario, holding an advantage of 30 percentage points over the second place, Paulo Eduardo Martins (Novo), vice-mayor of Curitiba, who appears with 8% of mentions. Enio Verri (PT), director of Itaipu Binacional, has 7%, and Guto Silva, 6%.
Although it points to Moro’s leadership, the survey also indicates potential votes for a candidate nominated by Ratinho Júnior: 70% of Paraná residents interviewed by the institute believe that the governor deserves to elect a successor.
Genial/Quaest interviewed 1,104 voters from Paraná between the 13th and 17th of August. The margin of error is three percentage points and the confidence level is 95%.
*With information from Estadão Conteúdo
Published by Fernando Dias