The 1985 municipal election was marked in the country’s political imagination. Although it is one of the most important in recent Brazilian history, it is usually best remembered for a gaffe.
then a candidate in São Paulo, on November 14 of that year, one day before the election. The photo, which gave the impression that he considered victory guaranteed, had wide and negative repercussions.
The dispute ended up being won by the former president, who was once again mayor of the capital of São Paulo — his first administration took place from 1953 to 1955.
But the relevance of that year’s clash goes far beyond FHC’s lack of political skills at the time. These were the first municipal elections after the military dictatorship and, in this sense, they are considered a milestone in the resumption of direct voting.
In today’s eyes, there is still a curiosity: the dispute pitted a former president, Jânio, against a future president, FHC.
Furthermore, the result in São Paulo indicated how strong conservative thinking would be in the following decades in the country, according to Edson Teles, professor of philosophy at the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp). For him, those elections showed “how much transformative potential democratic politics had while signaling the strong social presence of the right and conservative values.”
After the coup in 1964, Brazilians were unable to choose the president of the Republic for 25 years, which only occurred in 1989, in the dispute won by However, the first post-dictatorship municipal election, with direct voting, took place four years earlier.
In May 1985, just two months after the inauguration of Brazil’s first civilian president after the authoritarian regime, one of the symbols of redemocratization was promulgated. The measure restored direct voting for capital mayors and freed the .
“Even though the winds were blowing in the opposite direction, that is, in favor of citizenship and democratic freedoms, structures such as state violence based on racism against the poor and black population were maintained and sophisticated from 1985 onwards”, says Teles.
For him, the election in São Paulo in 1985 was also remarkable in bringing together what would come to form the major political currents in redemocratization: a left-wing candidate, a center-liberal candidate, FHC (then in the PMDB and who would later found the PSDB), and an extreme right-wing candidate, Jânio (PTB).
According to the professor, it was the first time that left-wing parties, coming from decades of hiding, were able to present themselves publicly.
“Despite not being a candidate, he played an important role in the vote for the PT ticket, with and . See that, together with two big names in this process, FHC and Lula, we have the presidents of 5 of the 10 terms of democracy [pós-1985]”, says Teles.
In the streets, the shadow of the , with high-ranking military personnel always commenting on the transition process, seeking to limit the scope of the transformations.
For Teles, those elections took place under a climate of uncertainty, in part because there were still authoritarian structures in place. “The repressive apparatus and the military presence, with the state police, substantially delegitimized the election, which may have contributed to its erasure from the narrative about the democratic transition.”
The PMDB won in 19 of the 25 capitals — the Federal District did not have an election; Tocantins was only created three years later. The party was thrilled with the success of the campaign and the indirect election of .
The 1985 disputes were part of a process of transition from the authoritarian regime to democracy, according to Marcus Dezemone, history professor at UFF (Universidade Federal Fluminense). “Although formally it was not a military man who occupied the Presidency at that time, Brazilian institutions were still pervaded by what, in , was called ‘authoritarian rubbish’.”
The symbolism of this election, he says, was to recover for these municipalities the capacity for political life without the intervention of the Executive Branch under the command of the military.
