The party did not agree to a federation with the PT in 2026. The idea, debated this Saturday (7) in a virtual meeting of the party’s national directory, was resoundingly rejected: 47 votes in favor and 15 against.
If it had joined the alliance, PSOL would have joined the PT as if they were a single acronym, under the same statute, even if their own names and ballot numbers were preserved. It is this scenario that the party ruled out in what participants at the meeting defined as a defeat for minister Guilherme Boulos (General Secretariat).
The decision could lead to the departure of the wing led by Boulos from the party, . The current, called Solidarity Revolution, brings together some of the party’s most public figures.
In the videoconference, the psolists also defined that they will support President Lula’s (PT) attempt to seek a fourth presidential term and, therefore, will not present their own candidate for the Planalto Palace.
The possible entry of PSOL into the federation made up of PT, PCdoB and PV caused internal raids within PSOL. Leaders such as Boulos, minister of the General Secretariat of the Presidency, and deputy Erika Hilton defended unity as a necessary tactic to confront the extreme right and guarantee the party’s parliamentary survival.
On the other hand, historical figures and majority currents in the party fear the loss of political independence and the obligation to support center-right candidates endorsed by PT members.
“It was a very heavy defeat for Boulos”, he tells Sheet councilor Roberto Robaina, from Porto Alegre, member of the directory. He is an ally of Sâmia Bonfim and follows the same argumentative path as the deputy: “The federation would make the PSOL a shadow of the PT, so it would be a defeat for the party’s founding project.”
According to Robaina, Boulos did not discuss his entry into the President’s Esplanada (PT) with the party leadership, “promising this line of federation that would be nothing more than the subordination of the PSOL to the PT.
The deliberation, however, does not prevent the two parties from being on the same platform in 2026. “We are united with the PT to confront the extreme right.”
Boulos was not at the meeting, as he was not part of the national directory. His wife, Natalia Szermeta, was the main spokesperson for the pro-federation movement.
Enthusiastic about the partnership with the PT, Erika Hilton says that, although she disagrees with it, her group “obviously respects the position of the majority”. But he still regrets the direction taken.
“I think it’s a shame that the party, instead of focusing on a tactic of expanding our bench, especially in the north and northeast, uniting and strengthening the left, has chosen to concentrate all its efforts on overcoming the barrier clause. But that’s it, smaller interests and narrower visions prevailed in today’s decision.”
Deputy Chico Alencar, who is part of the national directory, defined the debate as “very loud” and “calm”, without “offensive adjectives or any disturbance”. He took the opportunity to needle colleagues from Brasília who, according to him, were uneasy about the scandal involving him and its potential to spill over into the political universe.
“It was at the height of a doctrinaire party, which operates with ideas and causes, and there absolutely no one was apprehensive about Vorcaro’s spreadsheets and messages. That’s a difference, isn’t it? In the National Parliament, almost all of the parties are stuck with this scheme. We, absolutely not.”
In a press release, the PSOL chose to highlight that its leadership “unanimously” supports Lula’s re-election and that the federation with the Network will continue to be valid for the next electoral cycle.
Regarding the sinking of the federation with the PT, the party’s national president said that “the topic was accepted and, like the others, debated in a democratic and broad way, in accordance with our party tradition”.
