The absence of a defined platform for the two in the polls for the presidential election – the president (PT) and the senator (PL) – has affected the candidacies for the Minas Gerais government.
The influence of the national scenario in the state dispute appears in the movements of the last few weeks of two parties from the governor’s base (Novo), and .
The parties were expected to support the ticket headed by vice-governor Mateus Simões (), but changes caused by national articulations could separate them from the candidate supported by Zema for his succession.
PL leaders state that the condition for joining a state ticket will be support and platform for the presidential candidacy of Flávio Bolsonaro (PL).
The demand clashes with a promise made by Simões to Zema, when, last year. “The president [do partido, Gilberto] Kassab was very clear. In Minas Gerais, the platform [para a candidatura presidencial] It belongs to Governor Romeu Zema, this is how we will move forward”, said the vice-governor at the time.
The PL’s decision on who to support in the dispute over Palácio Tiradentes will be influenced by federal deputy Nikolas Ferreira, the party’s main name in the state.
Despite the interest of the Government of Minas, the parliamentarian has and must run for re-election in the Chamber of Deputies.
One of the options discussed in the PL is that of senator Cleitinho Azevedo (Republicans), who usually leads polls of voting intentions, but has not yet decided whether he will be a candidate for the Government of Minas.
In addition to Nikolas, Valdemar Costa Neto’s acronym would not have another strong name in the dispute.
If the PL was in Simões’ sights, the federation between União Brasil and PP was already treated by the vice-governor as a member of his ticket, including a place in the dispute guaranteed to Zema’s Government Secretary, Marcelo Aro (PP).
Certainty gave way to uncertainty this month, when .
The party is no longer led in Minas by federal deputy Delegado Marcelo Freitas, considered close to Simões, and is now led by also federal deputy Rodrigo de Castro, an ally of the senator (PSD-MG).
The change is attributed to an articulation made by the president of the Senate, (União Brasil), and gave strength to the signal that Rodrigo Pacheco, his first-time ally, is moving to the party.
Simões says he signed an agreement with the national presidents of the Union and the PP, Antônio Rueda and Ciro Nogueira, respectively.
“I am very calm because I was not approached by either party to say that our agreement is in any way at risk,” said the vice president in an interview with the newspaper O Tempo.
The federation made up of the two parties has relevant weight in the dispute. Currently with 107 deputies, it represents the largest group in the Chamber, which guarantees valuable electoral propaganda time for the ticket of which it will be part.
Pacheco’s likely trip to União Brasil encourages enthusiasts of the senator’s candidacy for state government, which would also serve as a platform in the state for Lula’s re-election.
the senator had a meeting this Wednesday (11) with the president and maintained his uncertainty, despite having heard from Lula that he is the PT member’s only option.
Pacheco responded that he intends to end his political career and that he would only run if there was no alternative — which would not be the case in his reading. He indicated, however, that he considers competing if there is no competitive option.
Amid Pacheco’s uncertainty, PT members have already explored a series of names as plan B for the state candidacy.
Among them are the president of the Legislative Assembly, Tadeu Leite (MDB), the former mayor of Belo Horizonte Alexandre Kalil (PDT), the rector of UFMG, Sandra Goulart, and the former president of Fiesp and son of José Alencar, .
The articulation, however, did not advance around any of them. The only definition of the PT in Minas Gerais is that the mayor of Contagem, Marília Campos, should be a candidate for the Senate.
Kalil himself or Minister Alexandre Silveira (Mines and Energy) could occupy the other Senate seat on the ticket.
The idea of the defenders of Pacheco’s candidacy is that the senator could centralize the support of the left and center sectors in his name – a spectrum that currently has only one pre-candidate, the former mayor of BH, Gabriel Azevedo (MDB).
