Previously enthusiastic about a presidential candidacy, parties in the center have gone through the mourning phase and are now resigned to the governor’s decision to seek re-election.
Leaders of acronyms such as , , and Republicans, heard by the Sheetare currently working with an electoral scenario that considers the presence of in the dispute for Planalto to be irreversible.
The admission of the scenario in which the former president’s son (PL) will be a candidate, however, has not so far meant a formal endorsement of these parties in Flávio’s candidacy. On the contrary, there is a resistance that has driven the parties to articulate an alternative name on the right.
The PSD, one of the first to understand that it could not count on Tarcísio running for President, gave its main sign of resignation on Tuesday (27). The native of Goiás has said that he will not give up running for President and this comes as a guarantee that the party will have its own candidate.
The other two pre-candidates for the party’s Presidency, governors Eduardo Leite (RS) and Ratinho Júnior (PR), offer no certainty that they will maintain the national project. The first does not excite colleagues outside the South region, as it does not have support from Lulistas or Bolsonaristas, while the second faces problems in Paraná.
The PSD’s decision to launch a presidential candidate is based on the premise that Tarcísio will not be a candidate for President. Otherwise, the party would be in the governor’s coalition,
PSD leaders say the objective is to try to dehydrate Flávio’s candidacy and reach the second round. If this does not happen, there will be no decision regarding support for the president (PT) or Bolsonaro’s son. The trend, say members of the party, is neutrality, as occurred in the last election.
For the Lula government, the best thing would be to have a greater spread of right-wing candidates. But, for now, the president’s allies have not yet calculated what the real impact of Kassab’s movement will be.
Among center leaders, only the president of the PP, Ciro Nogueira, gave public signals of eventual support for Flávio, but the União Progressista federation, formed with União Brasil, did not put the hammer down. Behind the scenes, Ciro began to preach caution and defends waiting to decide whether to embark on the senator’s campaign.
At the same time, these acronyms also show no interest in supporting Lula in the first round, despite having ministries and positions in the current government. Planalto, for now, is satisfied with the tendency towards independence from some of these groups, without full adherence to Flávio.
Initially, leaders from the center tried to keep Tarcísio in the running to run for President, even after Bolsonaro. The group’s current understanding, especially after the recent friction with the former president’s family, is that the governor would not confront the former boss to run for Planalto.
Some of the leaders make the reservation, however, that there may still be changes and that the policy is dynamic.
The PSD candidacy gave parties opposing Lula a third alternative, in addition to neutrality or support for Flávio. This Wednesday (28), during an event in São Paulo, mentioning MDB, Republicans, PP and União Brasil.
A no longer considers Tarcísio in its national equation. This centrão alliance has resisted Flávio’s offensives for support in the first round. The order is to concentrate efforts on assembling tickets in the states and only decide on a national position in April.
The federation’s tendency, leaders say, is neutrality or support for Flávio. The second option is seen as the most remote, as it would imply making it more difficult to elect deputies and senators in states with a Lulu voting tendency, mainly in the Northeast.
The , despite sheltering Tarcísio, tends towards neutrality, according to members of the party’s leadership. The acronym’s command had already defended the governor’s stay in São Paulo for months, arguing that it would not be worth exchanging a re-election seen as certain to take risks on a national project.
Recently, Tarcísio strengthened ties with his party by inviting the state president of the Republicans, Roberto Carneiro,. Carneiro is considered a right-hand man and advisor to Marcos Pereira.
Although the governor has already declared his support for Flávio, his party still keeps its decision regarding the national election open. An agreement is sought after by both the senator and the trio of PSD presidential candidates.
According to Republican leaders, there are chances of negotiating with the PSD in an attempt to strengthen a kind of third way that does not compromise the election in the states.
In the MDB, the assessment is also that Tarcísio should run for re-election, although changes are not ruled out. The party remains close to Lula through three ministries, but is considering maintaining neutrality — support for Flávio is considered unlikely.
Solidariedade, which formed a federation with the PRD, also no longer expects Tarcísio to run. The tendency is to free members to support whoever they want in the presidential election.
