Senator Paulo Paim (-RS), 75, announced that he will not be a candidate in this year’s elections. Almost 40 years after starting his career in , he states that the time has come to pass the baton to a new generation, but admits that his party should have been more committed to producing new political cadres.
Contrary to some of his peers, he says that the Minister of Finance, , had the right to refuse to be a candidate for the Government of São Paulo and defends that the mayor of , (), be a name studied in the presidential succession for the 2030 elections. Haddad did not want to contest the 2026 elections, but, under pressure from Lula and the PT, .
After four terms as federal deputy and three as senator, Paim hopes to leave Congress, at the end of this year, with the , defended in a PEC of his authorship that is being processed in the .
In an interview with Sheetthe senator took stock of political life and evaluated the changes in the Legislature over the years using a phrase attributed to , that the worst composition of Congress .
Mr. Have you already decided whether you will run as a candidate or intend to leave politics?
In the last campaign [para o Senado, em 2018] I had already announced that I no longer intended to be a candidate. I will be 40 years old [no Congresso] at the end of this last term. I am in favor of strengthening the new generations. I have already designed my life to continue serving vulnerable people in my office, in Rio Grande Sul. I want to continue this work in partnership with universities and take better care of my health. I would only agree to run again if there was no other name, but Edegar Pretto appeared for governor, and Paulo Pimenta [PT] for the Senate.
Haddad went to the Government of SP and PT members like Camilo Santana said he could not ‘afford’ to deny it. Is there a climate in the PT that would allow you to make the same decision as you?
The president, when he asks Haddad to be a candidate for governor, shows that he is one of the main members of the PT, in a campaign that is very tough. We know that we will suffer a lot of attacks on social media, but he will naturally be prepared to defend the government in a worthy way, because he did a wonderful job as Minister of Finance. But since I decided I’m not going to run, he also has the right [de negar].
Mr. said he is in favor of strengthening the new generations. Who are these younger PT staff?
I think we should have worked more on building newer frames. It doesn’t mean that I don’t have some, I gave the example of Haddad, right? There are a number of ministers, and compared to my age, they are still young and with all the conditions to exercise mandates when called upon.
Who would be a good successor to Lula on the left in 2030?
By 2030, new staff may emerge within or outside the PT. I’ll just cite one name as an example, because it has been remembered by many people, and I was a very good friend of his father, who is the mayor of Recife, João Campos, son of Eduardo Campos. He is a young cadre [tem 32 anos]which has to be looked at with great care.
The right has, so far, presented more definitions of candidacies than the left. Mr. Do you think the PT is properly organized for the Legislative elections?
We are working and moving in this direction. The PT is in a composition increasingly in tune with the PSB, the PSOL, the PC do B and the Green Party. We are trying to do sewing in the states fairly and correctly. There are some debates, as in the case of my state [Rio Grande do Sul]in which we talk about Edegar Pretto, but with Juliana Brizola [do PDT]who is a young leader with potential.
In Rio Grande do Norte I see a great desire from governor Fátima Bezerra, who was once a senator, to come to the Senate again, but we can’t forget Zenaide Maia [senadora do PSD]which is linked to the progressive camp.
Like mr. Do you see the fight for Senate seats guided by the impeachment of STF ministers?
I think it’s a flag that leads nowhere. If you are going to run a campaign with the aim of overthrowing Supreme Court ministers, I think it is an imbalance. This does not mean that one cannot criticize the Supreme, the Supreme is not God.
In these 40 years of Congress, as Mr. Do you see the changes between your first term, as deputy, and your last, as senator?
Look, I know it’s already a beat, but I agree with Ulysses Guimarães’ quote, that the worst Congress is always the next one. I am a witness that he was right. I joined at the time of the Constituent Assembly and it was possible to dialogue with the center of the time. We had our clashes, but there was dialogue. So much so that we managed, at that time, to reduce our working hours from 48 to 44 hours a week. I was already looking to reduce it to 40 hours, like now [na discussão da ].
Mr. Do you see Congress approving, today, the end of the 6×1 scale?
I think the election year helps with this. I presented PEC 148/2015 [que reduz a jornada para 36 horas semanais, de forma gradual] and there are other good projects, like Érika’s [Hilton, na Câmara]. I think this year we could approve the reduction to 40 hours per week and reduce one hour per year. There is a real gain for society and practically no impact on the market. There are more people who are healthy, stress-free, with the right to look after their family more, having more time to study and less susceptible to accidents at work.
Why is it that in first world countries, such as Spain and Germany, the 36-hour day is already being discussed? It’s not because they are nice, it’s because they know that productivity increases, quality of life and the consumer market itself improves. If you reduce working hours without reducing wages, you may even need to employ a few more workers, but there will be more people producing, consuming and having money on hand to spend.
There will come a time when the scale will be 4 by 3. But as I’m not one to sell land on the Moon, I won’t think that here in Brazil there will be 4 by 3 now. This takes a few years. But 40 hours, this year, is possible.
X-RAY | Paulo Paim, 75
Metalworker and former union leader, he was a PT federal deputy for Rio Grande do Sul for four terms and is in his third term as senator, having received 1.8 million votes in his last election, in 2018. He is the author of the projects that gave rise to the statutes on the Elderly, Racial Equality and Persons with Disabilities.
