It was January 1986 when Gardênia Gonçalves (PDS) saw Molotov cocktails being thrown at the Palace of La Ravardière, headquarters of the City Council of . The angry mob shouted against the suspension of appointments made during the election period by the former mayor of the capital of Maranhão.
In the same month, the newly sworn-in mayor Maria Luiza Fontenele () led a civil servant strike in . The city hall’s accounts were in the red with a payroll that even included dead people who received salaries through holders of powers of attorney.
The first weeks of their mandate revealed the dimension of the challenge that these two pioneers would face. Gardênia and Maria Luiza were consecrated at the polls 40 years ago and became the first women elected to head the city hall of a capital.
A was the first with a direct vote after the end of . In the midst of a dispute that legitimized the strength of the PMDB, two women with different trajectories and opposing ideologies, but equally tenacious in facing an adverse electoral scenario, were surprised at the polls.
Maria Luiza Fontenele was 42 years old and a university professor when she ran for mayor. She was a student leader and was part of the Women’s Movement for Amnesty and the Union of Ceará Women. State deputy, made the Assembly change the rules to accept women wearing pants in the plenary.
He entered the race for mayor in a difficult election. His opponents were traditional names in Ceará politics: the then federal deputy Paes de Andrade (PMDB) and the former mayor Lúcio Alcântara (PFL).
But the PT member had a meteoric rise during the campaign, gaining traction after striking teachers and bus drivers were harshly repressed. She emerged victorious with 34.6% of the votes — the two-round system would only be established in 1990.
“It was a beautiful campaign, we held up to three rallies a night. We discovered that people were afraid to say they were going to vote for me so as not to lose the benefits they received from the government at the time”, recalls Maria Luiza, currently 82 years old and a retired teacher.
At the final rally, on November 12, bus drivers released the turnstiles for passengers who went to the rally. The PT member recited “Faz Escuro, Mas Eu Canto”, by the poet, and the speakers repeated the song “Maria, Maria”, by Fernando Brant.
Meanwhile, in São Luís, Gardênia Gonçalves was 40 years old, had never contested an election and was the wife of a traditional politician: senator João Castelo, who had been governor of Maranhão between 1979 and 1982.
His main opponent was Jaime Santana (PFL), supported by the then president, José Sarney, from Maranhão. The election had a warlike atmosphere — a month before the vote, PFL and PDS activists fought while putting up posters, shots were exchanged, and one person was stabbed.
“I was the only woman candidate and against five men. And at that time, São Luís was still very provincial, there was a lot of prejudice against women. That, in a way, encouraged me to move forward and I won the election”, says Gardênia, now 85 years old, at the time elected with 36.1% of the votes.
The two pioneers served a three-year term in a turbulent period, marked by the absence of institutional rules, which would only come after the .
Elected to lead the PT’s first administration in a Brazilian capital, Maria Luiza was sworn in with the presence of and promised to fight corruption and tax evasion and improve living conditions in the favelas of Fortaleza.
But it faced an adverse political scenario, without a majority in the government, with employees paying late salaries and depending on transfers from the state and federal governments.
Amid disagreements with the PT, a split began within the party. The clash with other trends would result in a breakdown in conventions for the 1988 election. The party’s national leadership intervened and expelled the mayor.
Maria Luiza was also elected federal deputy in 1990 and migrated to the PSTU, then a dissent from the PT. Years later, he founded the Radical Criticism movement, which questions political representation within the capitalist system.
“We reinforce the idea of a process in which the people, in a revolutionary way, can build an alternative for humanity and the planet. And this will not be through the electoral process”, explains Maria Luiza, whose trajectory was told in the documentary “Prefeita”, directed by Felipe Barroso.
Gardênia would also face a difficult mandate, without support in the Chamber and without resources — the fire at the city hall caused the administration to lose its entire IPTU taxpayer base. She did not run for other political positions, but says she is proud of her tenure as mayor.
“I think it was worth participating on that occasion, even with all the difficulties I faced. Wherever I go, I always encourage women not to be intimidated and to go ahead in politics.”
São Luís would once again have a woman mayor between 1993 and 1996 with Conceição Andrade (). Fortaleza would elect Luizianne Lins (PT) in 2004 and 2008, being the first election.
Today a federal deputy, Luizianne assesses that the difficulties for women in politics remain despite the most recent advances: “It is still very harmful. Forty years later, we are victims of the same gender-based political violence.”
Since 1985, only 16 women have been elected to 24 terms in capital city halls, including names like Luiz Erundina and Lídice da Mata. In the current legislature, there are only two mayors: Emília Corrêa (), in , and Adriane Lopes (PP) in .
