The senator (PL) met for the first time, 15 days ago, with the president of , , in search of support . The conversation, however, was not positive. There are edges between the parties and the tendency today is for the party to remain neutral in the election, without declaring support for any candidate in the first round.
According to members of the Republicans interviewed by Sheet However, the dialogue between Pereira and Flávio was not good. There was no atmosphere to even discuss the party’s formal entry into the platform of the PL pre-candidate for Palácio do Planalto. The deputy and the senator were never close.
The meeting took place after Pereira realized that he had not been contacted by Flávio since the former president (PL) chose him as a pre-candidate in December. Furthermore, he complained about the PL’s attempt to affiliate the governor of , (Republicans), and not listening to the Republicans in the composition of the tickets, such as that of Rio de Janeiro.
“I’m not going to say it was a mistake, but it’s their style. It was, I could say, maybe a lack of skill. Each one makes the decision. It’s not something that helps in the debate, in the rapprochement”, said the president of the Republicans to Sheet .
The decision to nominate Flávio as a candidate without consulting the other right-wing and center-right parties was another complaint from Pereira and party leaders in the center.
“I received a call from Flávio the next day he announced [a candidatura presidencial]inviting him to dinner with the other presidents. I couldn’t go. When I arrived, I sent a message, ‘I’ve already arrived in Brasília, I’m available’, until today I haven’t received a response”, said the president of the Republicans in the same interview.
The parties had a public dispute at the end of last year, when the leader of the PL in the Chamber, Sóstenes Cavalcante (RJ), demanded that Tarcísio change parties. Pereira responded publicly in January. “Unlike other parties, we never embarrassed the governor, we never exposed him publicly. (…) Our actions have always been one of loyalty, responsibility and political stability — at Alesp and at .”
Although he refutes participation in the government (PT), the Republicans have as their representative the Minister of Ports and Airports, who is on leave and will leave his position by April 4 to run for re-election. He should be replaced by the executive secretary, Tomé Monteiro da Franca, who is also close to the party’s leadership.
Pereira also received an invitation from PT president, Edinho Silva, for a conversation, and both are expected to meet soon after the end of the party window, which ends on April 4th. Despite this, a coalition between the two parties remains unlikely, but neutrality would already help Lula to weaken Flávio’s candidacy.
This is the current trend, according to Pereira who has told allies. The party must release state directories to campaign for whoever they want, in order to avoid a conflict between the wings closest to the PT and the most conservative. The decision will only be made in July, at the conventions.
The Republicans have a wing more to the right, led by figures such as senators Damares Alves (DF) and Hamilton Mourão (RS). Both played a prominent role in the Bolsonaro government. She as Minister of Women, Family and Human Rights and he as Vice-Presidency of the Republic.
On the other hand, the party has a more Lulu group, concentrated mainly in the Northeast. For this wing, any association with Flávio Bolsonaro could represent a difficulty in the election, at a time when the party is focused on electing the largest number of deputies and senators.
One of the members of this group is the president of , Hugo Motta (PB), who has turned to Lula in search of support to elect his father, Nabor Wanderley (Republicans), to the Senate in Paraíba – a state where the PT member won the 2022 election against Bolsonaro by a large margin.
Flávio’s attempt to get closer to the Republicans, with a first conversation, demonstrates the PL’s interest in attracting parties from the center to its ticket. This would mean having more time for electoral propaganda on TV and radio. These subtitles, however, resist immediate approach and intend to deal with the subject only later.
The acronyms most likely to formally join the Bolsonaro campaign are Ciro Nogueira’s PP and Antônio Rueda’s União Brasil – which are also targets of Flávio’s main attacks at the beginning of the pre-campaign.
