The dispute for the support of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Maranhão worsened the tension between governor Carlos Brandão (no party) and the political group linked to the minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) Flávio Dino, of whom the current head of the Executive was vice-president and assumed the chair. An ally of the PT member, Brandão tries to nominate his nephew Orleans Brandão as his successor, while the magistrate’s supporters seek to consolidate the candidacy of current vice-president Felipe Camarão (PT). The PT state directory states that a decision on who will be the party’s name in the race for the Palácio dos Leões will be Lula’s, but admits that the preferred scenario would be a third-way candidacy, which would unite the broken wings.
The president defends that Brandão opts for a candidacy for the Senate, which would force the governor to leave office in April. However, Brandão does not wish to give visibility to Camarão and plans to use his reach in the state to seek votes for his nephew, who is Secretary of Municipal Affairs in his uncle’s government and presides over the MDB in Maranhão. Camarão has already been working on his own candidacy project, with the intention of uniting the left and center around his name.
Internally, there is a scenario of uncertainty in the PT state directory. The acronym considers supporting the successor chosen by the governor, endorsing Camarão’s candidacy or betting on a rapprochement between the two groups, seen by the acronym as the best option, but assessed as unlikely by both Brandão’s and Dino’s camps, after the split at the end of 2025.
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Division in the acronym
The rupture gained strength after the leak of recordings of conversations in which Dino’s allies demanded that Brandão’s group comply with agreements signed during the 2024 election. At the time, one of the reasons for the friction involved filling two vacancies in the state Court of Auditors (TCE), prevented by two actions being processed in the STF under the magistrate’s report.
The split was even criticized by President Lula, who at the time, in an interview with TV Imirante, asked that both camps have “responsibility” and avoid “fighting at home”. The PT member also said that the break could “give opponents the chance to win”.
Another possibility on the table is the PT’s support for the mayor of São Luís, Eduardo Braide (PSD), if a national alliance with Kassab’s party for Lula’s re-election is achieved. The candidacy would constitute opposition to Brandão’s plans, but is seen as unlikely after the announcement of the intention of the governor of Paraná, Ratinho Júnior, to contest the Planalto for the PSD.
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“The PT has been trying to unite the two groups. We currently have three secretaries in Brandão’s administration, in addition to the institutional representation in Brasília, and Lula is a close ally of Brandão. The president has been trying to articulate a candidacy, which is neither Orleans nor Camarão, to consolidate a union of the wings in the state”, says Patrícia Carlos, state president of the PT.
Brandão tells allies that a conversation with Lula should take place in the next few days so that the situation can be discussed. Interlocutors assess that the PT member “would not give up on a solid partnership with the governor already consolidated to support a PT leadership without electoral capillarity” and say that Camarão made the political decision to distance himself from the current governor.
For an interlocutor close to Brandão, Camarão’s group tries to spread a narrative that there is a dispute for Lula’s support or that the president is distancing himself from Brandão. For this ally, Camarão has little local electoral political strength and that Lula’s movements show alignment and partnership with the governor.
‘Oligarchic project’
Camarão says he has support from the national presidency of the PT and claims to also dialogue with other parties “that do not embark on Brandão’s oligarchic project”. The PT member claims that the union between Dino’s groups and the governor’s “is still possible”, as long as Brandão “complies with what was agreed in 2022”.
“I reiterated to the governor last week what had been agreed. The proposal for him to go to the Senate and for me to take over the government, being a candidate for re-election in October. And to debate under Lula’s leadership who will occupy the vice position and who will be the other name for senator. But, in any attempt to talk about this, Brandão says that his nephew’s candidacy is irreversible. The main obstacle to the negotiation is in him” says Camarão.
According to the PT member, the proposal received was to resign from his position as vice-president when Brandão joined the Senate and compete for a seat in the Chamber.
