The national president of Progressistas, senator Ciro Nogueira (PI), stated that he considers the governor of Minas Gerais, Romeu Zema (NOVO), as the “best name” to be vice-president on a ticket headed by Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ) for President, in this year’s elections.
To GLOBO, Ciro says he believes that the election will be decided by the undecided electorate of the Southeast, which would qualify Zema for the post, as he can present deliveries made over two terms in the Minas Gerais government and, as he has a “managerial profile”, would be a kind of counterpoint to possible criticisms to which Flávio may be subject, due to the fact that he does not have experience in the Executive Branch.
Ciro rules out being Flávio’s vice-president and highlights that the choice could change the course of the elections.
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“The best vice-president, in my opinion, would be Zema, as he has deliverables and experience. I think this election will be decided in the Southeast. But, I don’t know if Zema will add up electorally. I hope he (Flávio) doesn’t make the mistake that his father (former president Jair Bolsonaro) made last year, by choosing Braga Netto as vice-president, and not senator Tereza Cristina (PP-MS). There, he stopped nodding to the female electorate and lost the election. The choice needs to be strategic. From now on, I say that I don’t want to be vice president and I have already informed Bolsonaro that I am a candidate for the Senate, in Piauí. I am out of this.
The senator argues that Flávio should nod to centrist voters, as a way of attracting undecided voters, who are avoiding the polarization symbolized by the antagonism between Bolsonarism and PTism. He assesses as “wrong” the strategy recently adopted by Flávio, who went so far as to say that, if elected, he could appoint former deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro (PL-SP) as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
“If Flávio wants to win the election, he will have to talk to voters in the Center. It’s not just about intensifying agendas in the northeast. I’m from there, the northeast will vote mostly for Lula, regardless of whether the vice president is from there. More important than the vice president is the speech of unity and modernization. Flávio has an advantage over Lula, which is age. Lula is always looking back. But, if Flávio just wants to speak to the bubble, keep saying that he wants to nominate Eduardo Bolsonaro at Itamaraty will lose”, he added.
Close to the Bolsonaro family, the parliamentarian considers Flávio’s candidacy “irreversible”, but does not guarantee support. He states that the governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), should be content with trying to be re-elected for Palácio Bandeirantes.
“Today, Flávio’s name is unavoidable, there is no way back. Tarcísio would only be a candidate with the support of Bolsonaro and today I no longer see his chances for the Presidency.”
