The mayor of Maricá (RJ) and national vice-president of , Washington Quaquá, is experiencing a new phase of internal dispute with other party officials since the announcement of the idea of launching the singer Neguinho da Beija-Flor to run for .
Quaquá began testing Neguinho’s name on social media at the beginning of October. Meanwhile, supporters such as the minister (Racial Equality) and deputy Lindbergh Farias (RJ) launched a manifesto in support of the deputy’s (PT-RJ) nomination for the Senate.
Quaquá’s group is in charge of the party in the state — his son Diego Zeidan has been president of the state directory since .
The idea of running for the Senate with Neguinho, however, faces obstacles. One of them is the artist himself, who, according to sources, has not yet dived head first into the idea. Neguinho and people linked to him were contacted by the report, but there was no response.
The interlocutors Benedita stated that she had received a call from Neguinho, and the singer had shown support for her in the phone call.
In another episode, on Saturday (25), Quaquá went online to criticize Lindbergh and the government’s parliamentary affairs secretary, André Ceciliano, for the duo’s lack of mention of President Lula (PT) in a video that recorded their visit to Casimiro de Abreu, a municipality in the north of Rio de Janeiro.
The mayor of Maricá suggested that Lindbergh and Ceciliano used their influence with Gleisi Hoffmann (minister of Institutional Relations) to pursue their own politics.
Lindbergh published a text hours later in which he said he “increasingly” considers Quaquá a “despicable figure” and “low level”. The deputy recalled the dispute surrounding the candidacy for the Senate.
“I’m wondering why such a gratuitous attack on Gleisi, as well as the persecution of Benedita – trying to prevent her candidacy for the Senate. In the political field, this element often adopts positions against the PT, harming party actions and our political recovery”, he wrote.
Another guarantor of the pro-Benedita manifesto is Anielle. The minister and Quaquá have episodes of public feuds. In January of this year, Quaquá of the brothers Domingos and Chiquinho Brazão was accused of the death of the councilwoman, Anielle’s sister. “Take my sister’s name out of your mouth!”, wrote the minister, who called the party’s ethics commission against Quaquá.
A month later, Quaquá for the appointment of an alleged ghost employee at Maricá City Hall —she denies it— and also stated that she would contact the ethics commission.
Neguinho said goodbye to Carnival and began focusing on his career as a samba singer, with shows and single releases. Since February, he has been divided between Brazil and Portugal, where part of the family lives.
The wing in favor of the former Beija-Flor interpreter assesses that a name is needed that pierces the bubble of the progressive camp, as the competition for the Senate will be tough with the right wing of Rio de Janeiro, with names like (-RJ) and the possible candidacy of the current governor Cláudio Castro (PL).
The group that defends the artist’s launch into politics foresees potential similar to that of Romário (PL-RJ), elected federal deputy in 2010 and senator in 2014.
The other side argues that Benedita had already made herself available for the dispute and understands that the former governor, who was also a senator, would also be capable of absorbing votes outside the left camp. This group, composed of Anielle and Lindbergh, the president of Embratur, Marcelo Freixo, parliamentarians linked to the MST (Movimento Sem Terra) and other internal currents of the party published a manifesto on social media asking for signatures to support the deputy.
In , the mayor of Rio, (PSD), made a nod to Benedita’s name: jokingly and on purpose, he greeted her as “senator”, later correcting her to “deputy”.
Neguinho has been a member of the PL for more than a decade, the party of the current mayor of Nilópolis, Abraãozinho (PL). The mayor is the nephew of Anísio Abraão David, bicheiro and patron of Beija-Flor.
Members of the PT legal sector work on disaffiliating from the PL.
The singer has a close relationship with . In 2009, during treatment for cancer, Neguinho got married informally in Marquês de Sapucaí and invited the .
Lula attended the wedding and the Beija-Flor parade in a box. Benedita da Silva was at Neguinho’s side during the ceremony, accompanied by actor Antônio Pitanga.
In the 2024 elections, Neguinho produced jingles for PT candidates — Fernanda Ontiveros, from Japeri, Andrezinho Ceciliano, from Paracambi and Washington Quaquá, from Maricá. He also lent his voice to the campaigns of Talíria Petrone (), in Niterói, and the former governor (MDB), in Piraí.
