Former mayor of Itabaiana (SE) Valmir de Francisquinho, pre-candidate of the Liberal Party (PL) for the government of Sergipe, stated that he was against women holding political positions. The statement occurred during an interview with a local radio, last Friday, the 8th, after being asked about the possibility of his wife, Thaylane Monique, running in the 2026 elections.
“My wife doesn’t get involved in politics. Women and politics? Forget it!”, replied Francisquinho to radio host Carlino Souza’s program, on Itabaiana FM.
After the negative repercussion of the statement, the pre-candidate of former president Jair Bolsonaro’s party defended himself this Tuesday, 12th, stating that his speeches were distorted to encourage attacks against him. The former mayor said he had a “history” of “decency and respect” for women.
“In 2012, I was a candidate and chose a woman as vice-mayor, because I understand the importance of women for public administration. I had 13 secretariats in the first administration; nine were led by women”, he said in a radio interview Youth FM.
Regarding his wife, Monique Cruz Santos, Valmir stated that he had previously spoken to her about the possibility of a candidacy. “My wife is a lawyer, a freelance professional, she does whatever she wants. But we talk. […] She had already said that she has no (political) intentions”, he stated.
This is not the former mayor’s first controversy. In 2022, the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) barred his candidacy for the State government. In 2018, the court convicted him of abuse of political and economic power, making him ineligible for eight years, according to the Clean Record Law.
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Valmir’s statements about women generated criticism from political opponents. Sergipe state deputy Kitty Lima (PSB) repudiated the former mayor’s statement.
“When a man says that women don’t enter politics, he’s not just talking about his own home; he’s exposing a backward view of women’s place in society,” he said.
Afterwards, the parliamentarian defended greater female participation in spaces of power. “Politics needs more women creating laws, deciding budgets and occupying spaces of power. A fair society is not built by removing women from the decision-making space”, he added.
Women represent more than half of the Brazilian population, with 51.5%, but they still have low political representation. In the current composition of the Senate, for example, they occupy less than 20% of the seats. In the Chamber of Deputies, women currently occupy 91 of the 513 seats, equivalent to around 17.7% of the House.
According to TSE data referring to the last four elections in Brazil, women account for 53% of the electorate. Despite this, only 34% of candidates are women, and only 17% manage to be elected.
The only woman elected president of the Republic in the country’s history, Dilma Rousseff (PT), was impeached and removed before completing her second term in 2016.
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