The national president of Progressistas and senator Ciro Nogueira (PI) stated this Saturday, 25th, that president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) is, at this moment, the favorite to win the 2026 presidential elections. Although he is one of the main articulators of the opposition to the PT, the leader of the PP recognized that the federal government is going through a favorable phase, in a statement given to journalists during the Public Security Forum, promoted by the Francisco Foundation Dornelles in São Paulo.
“I see it as a football game. If only one team is on the field, it is the favorite,” said Nogueira. “Today the Lula is a plane flying alone, but it is a plane that flies low, with a low ceiling and little autonomy. When our center takes off, it will fly much higher and will be much better for the country.”
The senator highlighted that the right-wing political camp will have to choose a candidate and that this decision will be made by state governors. Nogueira has said that his preference is for the governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), and the governor of Paraná, Ratinho Júnior (PSD). Behind the scenes, the PP president is trying to qualify as a candidate for vice president.
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He also criticized Lula for his statement in Jakarta, Indonesia, that “drug dealers are victims of users”. The PT member then retracted it on social media, stating that the phrase was “misplaced”.
“I only have to regret that we have a President of the Republic with this type of thinking”, stated the senator. “But he himself saw the repulsion of society, from right to left, towards this type of view of the country, which was completely wrong. Society does not accept this type of position from a President of the Republic.”
