The president of , , criticized , president of , at a dinner on Monday night (23), with businesspeople in the Faria Lima region, in , and said he doubted that his colleague would be able to launch any of the party’s three pre-candidates for the Presidency.
“There is no possibility of having two candidates in the second round who are not [o presidente] Lula [do PT] and the [senador] [PL]”, said Valdemar, alongside the president of , Antônio Rueda.
“The ideal would be for us to come together in the first round so that we can kill this issue in the first round.”
Valdemar said that the possibility of the former judge (União Brasil) being well placed in the race for the government of Paraná will make it impossible for one of the PSD candidates, Governor Ratinho Jr, to run for President, since his political group could be defeated in the state. He also stated that the governor of Goiás, , would not have a strong electorate outside his state. He did not mention the party’s third pre-candidate, Eduardo Leite, governor of Rio Grande do Sul.
“I think they will have a lot of difficulty in launching a candidate for the PSDB,” said the PL president.
Valdemar also told the businesspeople present that Kassab made a mistake, in 2022, by not launching himself as vice-president of (Republicans) for the Government of São Paulo. “Look at the mistake he made [Kassab] committed, because he did not put his name as vice [de Tarcísio] because he wanted to support Tarcísio to work against Rodrigo Garcia. And then he didn’t put his name as deputy and, today, he [Kassab] He gives his life to be his deputy [Tarcísio]”, these.
After the event, in an interview with journalists, Valdemar also said that he considered it possible that Kassab would support Lula in a possible second round against Flávio. “It’s logical [que é possível]. They have three ministries”, he stated, referring to the PSD.
The assessment among São Paulo politicians is that the relationship between Kassab and Tarcísio deteriorated due to the PSD president’s insistence on maintaining the position of vice-president on the governor’s re-election ticket, while working to increase the number of politicians in his party and articulate a presidential candidacy.
Valdemar, during an interview with journalists after the event, defended that the vice position be occupied by the PL, since the party has the largest bench in the Legislative Assembly.
“In the other election, I gave in to Kassab, who was our vice-president, and now it’s our turn, as we have the biggest bench. Now, he’s the one who decides [Kassab]”, these.
Last week, information came to light that the vice-governor, Felício Ramuth (PSD), had US$1.6 million blocked from money laundering. The deputy governor denies having committed illegal acts and said that the money abroad had been declared to the Federal Revenue Service. Valdemar said he regretted the release of the information and stated that it could weaken Ramuth’s attempt to remain on the ticket.
During the event, Valdemar also minimized the opposition’s legal attacks for early electoral propaganda, resulting from the parade by the Acadêmicos de Niterói samba school, in Rio de Janeiro, which paid homage to President Lula.
“That [elogiar o presidente] it is their right, and the process there is an absurd process, because it only results in fines”, he said. Valdemar, however, told those present that his party had carried out an internal, unregistered survey, after Carnival, in the state of São Paulo, which showed that the president would have lost votes with the parade.
