in the government of (PL), the president of , (PI), was received by the president () on the eve of Christmas. The meeting took place at Granja do Torto, at the request of the senator, on December 22nd and was attended by the president of the Chamber, (-PB).
Described by the participants as cordial, the conversation, not recorded on the PT member’s agenda, had the objective of bringing Nogueira and Lula back together, under the sponsorship of Motta. According to reports, the head of the PP approached the president in search of an agreement to renew his mandate as senator for Piauí, a state governed by the PT.
According to politicians on both sides of the negotiation, Nogueira articulates the formation of a pact according to which Lula would emphatically support only one candidate for the , also senator Marcelo Castro (MDB). This would facilitate the re-election of the PP president, since there will be two vacancies up for grabs in October.
When confirming the meeting, an ally of Nogueira said that he wants the government and the PT not to hinder his candidacy, offering, in return, the PP’s neutrality in the presidential dispute. Under this proposal, the party would not formally ally with , , in the dispute against Lula.
The PP announced the formation of a party federation with União Brasil, . The two parties, together, would constitute the largest group and would be forced to act together in the national election. Ciro Nogueira is one of the main leaders of this association of parties, which has not yet been definitively recognized by the (Superior Electoral Court).
Confirmed by five people, the meeting between the president and the senator served to reduce tensions between the two, who, in the end, exchanged vows of affection. When talking about the possibility of an agreement with the senator in Piauí, an ally of Lula – sympathetic to the articulation – said that the president likes Nogueira.
During the conversation, the senator made a point of highlighting his good relationship with Motta, referring to the president of the Chamber as a kind of son of his.
According to reports, Ciro Nogueira also highlighted that he remained loyal to Bolsonaro until the end, but mentioned that he was one of the first to recognize Lula’s victory in 2022 — while Bolsonarism was reluctant to admit defeat. This part of the conversation was understood as a sign that the senator may be loyal to the PT member in a possible new term.
In the assessment of allies with whom Lula spoke, the president shows signs of sympathy for Nogueira’s proposal.
At this meeting, the senator expressed concern about the possibility of the conversation being leaked — so much so that, when contacted by Sheetdenied having spoken to Lula. Even allies of the PP president confirmed that he has been intensifying conversations with a view to the electoral campaign.
The senator has become identified with Bolsonarism in recent years, and the fact that he met with the current president should cause weariness among this electorate and right-wing politicians.
A realignment between Lula and Ciro Nogueira would face strong rejection in the PT of Piauí. Therefore, Governor Rafael Fonteles (PT), who will run for re-election, and Minister Wellington Dias (Social Development) had not yet been informed of the meeting.
Saying he was unaware of this conversation, the state president of the PT of Piauí, Fábio Novo, recalls that Nogueira was elected twice with Lula’s approval, having later betrayed this agreement. “We don’t have the right to make a mistake a third time,” he said.
National party leaders would also not want to help Ciro Nogueira.
Furthermore, the ticket created by the PT in the state has deputy Júlio César () as a pre-candidate for the Senate. And a rupture could upset the president of the PSD, with whom Lula also needs to maintain a good relationship.
Piauí is a majority Lula state. In the 2022 election, the PT member received 76.8% of the valid votes in the dispute against Bolsonaro in the second round. In this way, political leaders in Piauí consider that candidates who compete with official support from Planalto have a great chance of being elected.
Still, even Lula’s allies recognize that Bolsonaro’s former minister has the support of many Piauí mayors – including some from the PT –, which gives him electoral strength. The one from Cajueiro da Praia (PI), PT member Felipe Ribeiro, for example, declared support for the parliamentarian.
Nogueira is in his second term as senator. In 2018 he was re-elected and from the PT, campaigning with , who beat Bolsonaro in Piauí with 77.1% of the valid votes in the second round. The senator received 29.8% of the votes, being the most voted, with emedebista Marcelo Castro in the second place, with 27.1%.
After Haddad’s defeat, however, Nogueira approached the Bolsonaro government. The alliance took him to the Civil House in July 2021. The senator began to lead the PP towards Bolsonarism, even after the former boss ran out of mandate, breaking with the center’s tradition of aligning with those in power.
Without Bolsonaro, Nogueira became enthusiastic about the candidacy of the governor of São Paulo, (Republicans), for the Presidency. Like former government colleague Bolsonaro, the PP president is now evaluating how to deal with the candidate anointed by his former boss, Flávio Bolsonaro.
PP allies indicate that the senator dreamed of being Tarcísio’s vice-president and was considered to be Flávio’s vice-president, but now that desire has cooled. The party, which has a Lulist wing, including a minister, may not formally support Bolsonaro’s son and free members to join any national campaign.
