The three pre-candidates for the Presidency of the PSD – Eduardo Leite, Ratinho Jr. and Ronaldo Caiado – signaled this Wednesday, 28th, that the choice of the name that will represent the party at the polls in October will not be made based on an internal election or electoral polls. The choice will mainly go through the national president of the party, Gilberto Kassab, who is also the current Government Secretary of the Tarcísio de Freitas (Republican) administration.
“Let’s wait for Kassab to give a little white smoke to define the PSD candidate”, said the governor of Goiás, Ronaldo Caiado, who announced his affiliation with the PSD last Tuesday, the 27th, taking even close allies by surprise. Until then, the governor was a pre-candidate for the Presidency of União Brasil.
Leite, governor of Rio Grande do Sul in his second term, confirmed that there will be no party caucuses, like the ones he contested in his former party, the PSDB, nor even internal polls to guide the decision.
Opportunity with security!
“Electoral research will not be observed to define the criteria adopted by the party to choose the candidate. I think what counts is the dialogue within the party”, defended Leite. “The party has several leaders who are very experienced in politics who will help lead this process (of choice). President Kassab leads these discussions internally and there are no objectively defined criteria. It will be through the ability to understand politically what could be most successful.”
In an interview, after participating in a panel event at Banco UBS Global in São Paulo, Leite stated that Kassab will lead a council with members of the party’s executive to analyze which project is best able to prosper. The nominee will have the support of others to compete.
Regarding the regional differences of the PSD, which has Lulista and Bolsonarist wings coexisting at the same time, the three pre-candidates stated that Kassab gave complete freedom to the chosen one to tailor his own compositions in the States, even in scenarios in which the party will be allied with another camp.
Continues after advertising
“For example: if, in Bahia, the PSD goes with the PT, we will go to the ACM Neto platform (Unity). In Ceará, if the PSD goes another way, we will go to our candidate. (Kassab gave us) total freedom of action, without any difficulty”, stated Caiado.
The governor of Goiás said that there was no discord in the center-right and that the group will be united in the second round of the presidential elections. Caiado said that he met Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL), also a pre-candidate for the Presidency, about a week ago and that the senator himself defended a greater number of pre-candidates in the first one.
“A single candidacy in the first round is what Lula wants,” stated Caiado. “Everyone was sympathetic to this strategy. His campaign coordinator (Flávio Bolsonaro), (senator) Rogério Marinho (PL-RN)participated via video (from the meeting) and also reinforced this understanding. So, there is no confusion, no disagreement regarding this center-right stance. There is no one against the other. In the second round, we will all be with the one who gets through the first round. This is obvious, there is no disagreement.”
Caiado also stated that he does not yet have a defined second plan, if he is not chosen by Kassab for the election. “If I wanted to run for the Senate, I wouldn’t be in this fight here. I’m a pre-candidate for President. Let’s let the process happen”, he said, during a press conference after the event.
