Discussions about a possible federation with the division and politically isolated the wing linked to the minister (General Secretariat) and the federal deputy (SP), . Different currents of the party claim that the majority of members are against the union, which will be debated at a meeting of the national executive this Saturday (7).
The federations add up TV time and electoral quotient between parties, which act together nationally as a single acronym, under the same statute, but maintain their own names and ballot box numbers. They need to be made official by April, six months before the election, and will last four years.
The meeting will be virtual and will take place after weeks of jabs between psolistas on social media and the presentation of different arguments on different fronts.
The Solidarity Revolution, a movement led by Boulos, Erika and minister Sônia Guajajara (Indigenous Peoples), argues that the federation is necessary to bring unity to the left and combat the advance of Bolsonarism and the extreme right in the country, taking as an example the Frente Amplio do , which unified left and center-left parties in the 1970s.
The group claims that, federated to the PT, PSOL will not need to worry about the barrier clause, which imposes a minimum number of votes for parliamentarians and parties to take up seats in the . The party would take advantage of PT’s capillarity to expand the reach of PSOList candidacies in the country.
“The federation is a way to expand the leftist bench in Congress at a decisive moment, as there are several cases of leaders who have enough votes to be elected, but do not reach the mandate according to the rules of the electoral quotient”, said Boulos, Erika and Guajajara, together with other PSOL leaders, in February.
Reaching the barrier clause guarantees parties access to Party Fund resources and free advertising on radio and television. For 2026, the criteria are the election of at least 13 federal deputies or reaching 2.5% of the valid votes for the Chamber. In both scenarios, votes must be distributed among 9 of the 27 federative units.
“The extreme right operates as a bloc. Financial capital operates as a bloc. Agribusiness operates as a bloc. The parliamentary right acts as a bloc. If the left responds only with an isolated identity, it runs the risk of talking nice and losing badly,” wrote the party’s national treasurer, Tiago Paraíba, on Instagram.
Last week, Paraíba accompanied the president of PSOL, Paula Coradi, and federal deputy Sâmia Bomfim (SP), in a meeting with the president of PT, Edinho Silva, to talk about the union.
A militant of the MES (Socialist Left Movement), one of the currents opposing the federation, Sâmia told Sheet that, in the 2022 election, the PSOL had surpassed the barrier clause relating to 2026.
“The risk of the clause always exists, but there is no data that indicates that we will not be able to overcome it,” she said.
Federations and the clause
Parties that do not meet the barrier clause, in order to have access to Party Fund resources, must merge, incorporate or federate with other parties.
Primavera Socialista, the majority group that presides over PSOL, released a statement on social media opposing the federation. The group argues that the party would be forced to present fewer candidates for the Legislature, since the limit of candidacies is divided between the parties that make up a federation.
Today, PSOL shares vacancies only with Rede, with whom it has been federated since 2022. If it accepts to join the PT, it will share applications not only with PT members, but also with PCdoB and PV. The top brass of the Network, in the midst of the party’s presidency, has already declared that it will not continue with the PSOL if the party joins the PT.
Another argument made by psolists against the federation, also cited by members of Primavera, is that the alliance would force the party to, but endorsed by the PT, such as that of Helder Barbalho (MDB) for the government of Pará and Eduardo Paes (PSD) for the government of Rio de Janeiro.
“It is an obligation of coalitions in the states that has no meaning for our history and our program”, said deputy Fernanda Melchionna (RS), member of the MES, to Sheet.
Support for Lula
Linked to the Solidarity Revolution, state deputy Ediane Maria (SP) told the reporter that strengthening the alliance with the PT “is a way of maintaining President Lula’s legacy and, mainly, taking away any chance of the extreme right spreading even further in the country’s Legislative Houses”.
Federal deputy Chico Alencar (RJ), who is not part of any internal wing, wrote on social media that the PSOL, despite presenting its own presidential candidacies between 2010 and 2018, never failed to vote with the PT in the second round.
He is one of the party’s historic cadres and is part of the group of former PT members who founded PSOL after dissatisfaction with the direction of the Lula government in his first term (2003-2006). Signed on the Sheetarguing that the party should not accept the invitation to join the federation.
“In order to preserve this political independence, we will participate in the presidential coalition [de 2026]but we have an opinion against federating with the PT”, says an excerpt from the text, stating that the parties have “complementary roles”.
Other historical PT dissidents also spoke out against the union, such as (SP), Luciana Genro (RS) and Ivan Valente (SP).
Political future
A leadership heard by Sheet he stated with reservation that internal debates have shown a new configuration of the party’s wings. Previously linked to the majority group, the Solidarity Revolution has defended the federation in isolation, while the MES, which often acts in opposition to the majority, has joined forces with other currents against the federation.
Part of this configuration, according to this leadership, is the result of some members’ discomfort with the proximity between Boulos and Lula, which would have motivated members of the Solidarity Revolution to leave the group after defending the federation.
Members of Primavera admit that, without the obligation to support candidacies like those of Paes and Barbalho, the federation would be more accepted, and argue that the debate should be resumed next year, instead of ending once and for all this Saturday.
