Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ) had his pre-candidacy for the Presidency of the Republic criticized, this Tuesday, by pastor Silas Malafaia. One of his father’s main allies, former president Jair Bolsonaro, the leader of the Assembly of God Vitória em Cristo stated that the best political arrangement for the right would be to have a ticket headed by the governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), with former first lady Michelle Bolsonaro as vice-president. In addition to the pastor, Flávio has already received public criticism from members of Centrão for not organizing his candidacy in conjunction with other parties.
“I didn’t see anyone from the Lula government attack Flávio (after the announcement of the pre-candidacy). What an interesting thing. It’s as if they were saying: “That’s who we want.” A candidate to be combative, to win an election, is Tarcísio and Michelle as vice-president”, said Malafaia, in an interview with the Metrópoles portal.
Flávio made his candidacy official on December 5, after being chosen by Bolsonaro. Three days later, the president of the Progressive Party (PP), senator Ciro Nogueira (PI), stated that, despite his proximity to the former president’s son, politics “is not done only with friendship”, but rather “with research, feasibility and listening to allied parties”.
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On the same day, there was a meeting between Flávio, Ciro and the presidents of União Brasil, Antonio Rueda, and PL, Valdemar Costa Neto. Of the three, only Valdemar publicly endorsed the parliamentarian’s candidacy, stating that “if Bolsonaro said it, it is said”.
After the meeting, the leader of the opposition in the Senate, Rogério Marinho (PL-RN), confirmed that the parties were not previously informed about the movement and that, therefore, they would need to discuss the issue with their respective bases. Centrão’s initial assessment was that Flávio would not be able to unite the opposition.
“My relationship with Ciro, Rueda and other names is very good. They were worried about my name, based on research, that I wouldn’t be in traction. My name is traction. I reinforced to them that my candidacy is irreversible”, stressed Flávio, the next day, when visiting his father at the Federal Police Regional Superintendence, in Brasília, where he is imprisoned.
The chiefs also met with the president of the Republicans, federal deputy Marcos Pereira (SP), on December 9th. Since then, none of the three parties has shown support for Flávio in a public way.
Amidst the articulations, the pre-candidate for the Senate for Santa Catarina, Carlos Bolsonaro (PL), defended his brother. He took advantage of the uncertainty to criticize the center parties:
“What does Centrão really want? It is certainly not real economic freedom, nor citizen autonomy. The project is another, silent, but evident to those who pay attention”, wrote Carlos, on social media.
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The most recent demonstration was by the PP leader in the Chamber of Deputies, Dr. Luizinho Teixeira (RJ), last Thursday. He defended that both his party and União Brasil can “make whatever movement they want” in relation to support, since the PL acted in an “isolated” manner.
“The PP, together with União Brasil, participated in the construction of a center-right candidacy. From the moment that Flávio Bolsonaro pulls his candidacy through a family decision and imposes it to the right, everyone who is from the center and center-right is free. Our priority is to elect deputy and senator”, said the deputy, in an interview with the newspaper “Folha de S.Paulo”.
Luizinho also defended that a presidential candidacy “involves political support, calling everyone to participate and defining what the project is”. According to him, within the party, there are even those who want to support the re-election of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).
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“He already comes out with a very high rejection rate, he has more difficulty winning over centrist voters than Tarcísio (de Freitas, governor of São Paulo) and Ratinho Jr. (governor of Paraná)”, explained Luizinho.
‘Combative plate’ x ‘Right-wing amateurism’
In the same vein, this Tuesday, Malafaia assessed that Flávio does not have the “political muscle” for the election against Lula. Tarcísio, as he has a lower rejection rate, would be important to attract votes from Centrão and voters who would not vote for Lula or Bolsonaro.
“Michelle embodies (the votes of) women, the right, evangelicals and is the daughter of northeasterners,” said Malafaia. “I thought (Flávio’s candidacy) was a wrong move. Bolsonaro is emotionally weakened because he is a victim of injustice. I’m not going to swallow it.”
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A few hours after the announcement of Flávio’s pre-candidacy, on the 5th of this month, the leader of the Assembly of God Vitória em Cristo had already expressed his discontent:
“The amateurism of the right makes the left laugh. I’m not speaking for or against anyone. That’s all,” wrote Malafaia, on social media, without mentioning the former president’s son.
Majority defines candidacy as a mistake
The new round of the Genial/Quaest survey released this week showed that Flávio faces greater rejection than the other right-wing names placed in the dispute. There are 60% of voters who say they know him but would not vote for him. This index is 54% for Lula and 47% for Tarcísio.
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Furthermore, 54% of voters argued that Bolsonaro was wrong to nominate his son as a pre-candidate, while 36% say that the former president was right in his choice. Among voters on the non-Bolsonaro right, 38% believe that Bolsonaro should not have nominated Flávio, compared to 16% of those who declare themselves Bolsonaro supporters
On the other hand, Flávio has more support among the Bolsonarist electorate than Tarcísio. The former president’s son intends to vote for 90% of this group, while the governor reaches 73% of the field in a second round scenario against Lula.
