The movement to forge an alliance with Ceará bore fruit for the former first lady in front of the electorate and revealed her rise as one of the figures determining the direction of the PL.
On the other hand, resistance to it also increased among a certain wing of the party. Those dissatisfied, however, find themselves with their hands tied in reacting to the behavior of the former first lady, given her popularity among Bolsonarista activists.
Members of the party believe that Michelle has become an important asset, with good circulation among women, and that it would be a political mistake to pick a fight with her.
On the 30th, at the launch of the senator’s pre-candidacy for the government of Ceará, the former first lady publicly reprimanded the federal deputy for drawing up an alliance with the former minister. Fernandes followed the party’s guidance and, according to supporters, had the support of Jair Bolsonaro (PL).
The former president’s three eldest children, the senator, the federal deputy and councilor Carlos Bolsonaro (PL), reacted together and criticized Michelle’s attitude on social media, which they considered authoritarian. , stating that he thinks differently and that he has the right to express himself.
After visiting his father in prison, at the Federal Police Superintendency in Brasília, it was Flávio who told the press that Michelle. On the same day, after a meeting of the party’s top leadership, the PL, putting the issue under control.
In an interview, the senator acknowledged that his stepmother participates in the “hard core” of the PL and that she will help in making decisions alongside him, the party president, Valdemar Costa Neto, and the general secretary, senator Rogério Marinho (PL).
Party members assessed that the electorate sided with Michelle, which would have been one of the reasons for the public retreat of the former president’s children.
Less than a week after the episode, however, Flávio Bolsonaro announced that he had been anointed by his father to run for President. Allies assessed that the nomination was a way for Bolsonaro to mark territory and try to regain control over the right, sending a message not only to the center, but also to Michelle.
Although publicly it is difficult to confront the former first lady, dissatisfaction accumulated internally after the case in Ceará.
Even the PL’s ideological wing, opposed to pragmatic political agreements, privately regretted Michelle’s public exposure of Fernandes, even though it agrees with the criticism of the agreement with Ciro Gomes, who has already called Bolsonaro a thief.
Politicians from the party were irritated by the lack of dialogue and highlighted that, if she acted in this way with a high-profile leader like Fernandes, she could treat other supporters even worse.
Dissatisfied parties also claim that the former first lady has a personal power project, with the aim of boosting female candidates in the party, and that she does not think about the collective.
In Ceará, the PL’s support for Ciro Gomes would involve a ticket with state deputy and pastor Alcides Fernandes (PL), André Fernandes’ father, as a candidate for the Senate. Michelle, however, wants Priscila Costa (PL), councilor in Fortaleza, to run for the party.
The former first lady also works with the PL in other states. In Santa Catarina, he defends federal deputy Caroline de Toni (PL) for the Senate, despite the . In Brasília, he wants to win federal deputy Bia Kicis (PL), to the detriment of governor Ibaneis Rocha (MDB).
A member of the PL told the report that the party created a monster – in other words, that the party invested in building Michelle as a political leader and that now, being very popular, it is difficult to control her. This same politician gave an example: today, if he had to choose, he would rather fight on social media with federal deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro than with the former first lady, because the political cost would be lower.
Two pre-candidates for governor who preferred not to be identified say they need Michelle on the stage next year. For one of them, the former first lady is an even better electoral campaigner than Bolsonaro and the governor of São Paulo, .
During the weekly lunch of opposition senators, last Tuesday (2), the Bolsonaro clan’s fight in Ceará was one of the main topics on the table. Two federal deputies from Novo who participated in the conversation said, jokingly, that if the PL doesn’t want Michelle, they will.
In the 2024 elections, the former first lady was one of the party’s main vote-getters, traveling across Brazil and recording content in support of other candidates.
After the , speculation increased about Michelle as vice-president in a possible presidential ticket headed by Tarcísio. This, however, is not the governor’s desire, according to allies, and Michelle also faces resistance from the center. For a party leader from this group, the former first lady’s attitudes are explained by her inexperience.
It is not yet clear whether this is a possibility that has been definitively ruled out with the announcement of Flávio Bolsonaro as a pre-candidate.
Another right-wing parliamentarian says he believes that keeping the former first lady’s name as a possible vice-president was a way for Bolsonaro to signal that he intended to control the formation of the presidential ticket. For him, however, the former president needs Michelle and her children in the Senate, where his political group of ministers and amnesty for those involved in the January 8 attacks.
