The articulation between PT and PDT to attract each other in a broad progressive front in the dispute for the government of Rio Grande do Sul comes up against the insistence of the two parties in not giving up the head of the ticket.
On Wednesday (11), the president (PT) received former state deputy Juliana Brizola () and the president of the PDT, at Palácio do Planalto, for a meeting on the electoral scenario in Rio Grande do Sul.
The assessment of PED leaders is that the left has a better chance of winning if the PT gives up its own candidacy and accepts to join the alliance of Leonel Brizola’s granddaughter (1922-2004). If accepted, Rio Grande do Sul may not launch a candidate for state government for the first time in its history.
Carlos Lupi said on social media that the conversation was a “frank and respectful” dialogue, and that Lula “listened carefully” to the request for support for the pre-candidacy.
Lupi had already met with the national president of the PT, Edinho Silva, on the 4th, to discuss the alliance, and stated on social media that he had received a commitment from the PT to support Juliana’s candidacy, which the PT directory denies.
The name of the president of Conab (National Supply Company), Edegar Pretto (PT) has been mentioned since the first round of 2022, when the PT member almost prevented the re-election of (). On that occasion, Leite advanced to the second round by a difference of less than 2,500 votes.
The PDT from Rio Grande do Sul has already given its support to Lula’s reelection, and Pretto and Brizola have already stated that they are interested in forming a broad left front at the state level. The two pre-candidates publicly state that they will not give up their candidacies.
Juliana published a photo on social media with Lupi and Lula shortly after the meeting, with a message to the PT: “I respect the time of each party and I leave this meeting confident and hopeful, with the certainty that we are building a serious project for our State.”
Juliana Brizola’s last electoral contest was in 2024, and she came in third place, with 19.6% of the votes.
Mayor Sebastião Melo was re-elected in the second round with 61.53% of the votes, against 38.47% for federal deputy Maria do Rosário (PT).
Juliana positions herself as the strongest name to defeat the right in the second round, a strategy similar to that adopted by her campaign in 2024, when she tried to attract votes from Maria do Rosário by presenting herself as the candidate with the best chance of beating Sebastião Melo.
At the time, she also presented herself as an alternative to the polarization between the PT and the right, which is part of the mayor’s base. It received support from governor Eduardo Leite, who echoes a similar speech in his national political plans.
According to the state president of the PT, state deputy Valdeci Oliveira, there have already been “three or four” meetings with the PDT and , which has not yet defined support.
“We already have a step taken, which is a pro-Lula table with eight parties here in the State. This is already important,” said Valdeci.
He states that the party works to replicate this support for Pretto’s candidacy, but sees legitimacy in the construction of a candidacy by the PDT.
“We are going to work hard so that we can have maximum unity, but we will not divide ourselves if more than one candidate comes out in this field. Organized, of course, so that we can be together in the second round.”
Edegar Pretto’s good result in 2022 encouraged the party’s base, which already governed the state with Olívio Dutra (1999-2002) and Tarso Genro (2010-2014) and was at the head of the capital, between 1988 and 2004.
In 2022, (PL) scored 56.35% against Lula’s 43.65%. However, Leite defeated the Bolsonarist candidate by 56% to 44% in the second round, with critical support from the state PT.
This year, federal deputy Luciano Zucco and Novo should launch, while Leite, vice-governor Gabriel Souza (), in the center.
Son of federal deputy Adão Pretto (1945-2009), founder of the PT and MST and personal friend of Lula, Edegar Pretto sees the current moment as more favorable than in the previous election, when Bolsonaro was still president and Lula had recently recovered his political rights. “I started with 4% in the polls and we ended with almost 27%,” he said.
The result impressed the national PT, and Pretto was chosen by Lula as president of Conab.
Pretto organizes a caravan in 27 cities in the state to meet with activists and build a government plan. According to him, the priority is to ensure that Lula wins in the state, which has not happened since 2002.
“We want to have the PDT walking with us, if possible, in the first round. It is our desire to have this platform, which is an opportunity for President Lula’s re-election”, said Pretto.
He naturally sees Lula’s meeting with the Pedetistas in Planalto. “The president’s meeting with former deputy Juliana and the national president of the PDT is a gesture from someone who is a pre-candidate, just like I am.”
Pretto states that his own candidacy is consolidated and meets the demands of state activism, but maintains a good relationship with the PDT. “Obviously, we won’t lack all the effort, but if it’s not possible in the first round, it will certainly be in the second round”
Today, the alliance between PT, PCdoB, PSol, PV and Rede has 14 of the 55 state deputies, eight federal deputies among 35 and senator Paulo Paim, the only PT member representing the South of the country in the Upper Chamber.
Without Paim, who chose not to seek a fourth term, the PT already presents itself with a ticket assembled and the vice-president vacancy free.
The candidates for the Senate will be the former deputy Manuela D’Ávila, who changed her party, and the federal deputy (PT).
Pimenta was Lula’s right-hand man as extraordinary minister of Reconstruction in RS after the climate tragedy that killed 185 people, displaced almost 600,000 and caused billions in damage to the economy.
