Presidential candidate Ronaldo Caiado (PSD) minimized this Monday the lack of support from co-religionist governors for his candidacy for the Planalto. So far, only two of the six heads of the party’s state executive have publicly endorsed the initiative of the former governor of Goiás. The party has wings already aligned with rival candidacies to Caiado’s, such as those of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) and Romeu Zema (Novo).
— The two governors with the greatest projection in politics and best evaluated are supporting me: Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul — said Caiado in an interview with the videocast “Frente a Frente”, a partnership between Uol and “Folha de S. Paulo”.
With the promise to “deactivate” polarization in the country, Caiado was confirmed as a pre-candidate after the withdrawal, last month, of the governor of Paraná, Ratinho Junior — the only head of the state executive of the party who used social media to declare immediate support for the Goiás leader’s candidacy.
The choice also frustrated the governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leite, who left the PSDB for the PSD. The gaucho stated that the party’s decision tends to maintain the divisive environment in the country and said that there is a “still silent, but very real” desire in Brazil for a balanced alternative.
Neither of them were present at the announcement, despite maintaining, for a few weeks, that they would be together on the project regardless of the result. The following day, Leite adopted a conciliatory tone when he highlighted having spoken with Caiado and saying that, despite “differences in vision and style”, there are also “many similarities” between them.
The other four governors of the party did not comment on Caiado’s choice: Raquel Lyra (Pernambuco), Marcos Rocha (Rondônia), Fábio Mitidieri (Sergipe) and Mateus Simões (Minas Gerais).
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Mitidieri has already publicly declared that he will support Lula in this year’s election. Lyra, on the other hand, migrated from the PSDB to the PSD in search of rapprochement with the PT member, who is an ally of rival João Campos in the state. She must bet on a position of neutrality in the election. Simões, in turn, will support Zema.
Silencing was also the strategy adopted by names in the party who aim to run for state governments this year. This is the case of the former mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, who will run for Palácio Guanabara in alliance with the PT. Lula’s party also officially supported the PSD names for the governments of Amazonas and Mato Grosso.
