More than half of the state directorates signed a manifesto in favor of the party’s neutrality in the presidential elections. The document will be delivered this Tuesday (3) to the national president of the party, deputy Baleia Rossi (SP), with the intention of showing that the party with the president (PT) is in the minority.
“This manifesto, with all these signatures, shows that there is absolutely zero chance of the MDB forming a coalition with the PT at a national level”, says the vice-governor and president of the MDB of Goiás, Daniel Vilela.
The PT members offer the position of vice-president to the MDB, in order to expand the alliance for re-election and reinforce the nod to the political center, as happened with Geraldo Alckmin (a former tucano now in the PSB) for the position.
The manifesto against the national alliance with the PT is signed by the presidents of the Ulysses Guimarães Foundation and the MDB directorates of 16 states, including São Paulo, which is commanded by Baleia.
Another to sign is the president of the Minas Gerais directory, federal deputy Newton Cardoso Jr, despite negotiations within the PT for the former president of Rodrigo Pacheco () to join the party and run for the Minas Gerais government in the second largest electoral college in the country.
Three deputy governors who will take over the government until April and will run for re-election also endorse the text: Vilela in Goiás, Gabriel Souza in Rio Grande do Sul and Ricardo Ferraço in Espírito Santo. The trio rejects alignment with the PT in their states. The mayors of 2 of the 5 capitals governed by the MDB are also signatories: Ricardo Nunes (São Paulo) and Sebastião Melo (Porto Alegre).
The MDB group opposed to the coalition with the PT argues that state directorates must have the autonomy to choose the best alliance to strengthen the party and, therefore, demand that the national leadership adopt an independent stance in relation to the presidential candidates.
Each state section would be free to support whoever best represents local interests – in general, Lula in the Northeast and part of the North states and right-wing candidates in the South, Southeast and Central-West.
The creation of the manifesto that gathers support from more than half of the directorates was led by Vilela, who will take over the Government of Goiás in the coming days, with the resignation of (PSD) to try to run for President. The emedebista will run for re-election and intends to keep the party away from the PT.
He delivered his own letter to Baleia last week, criticizing the Lula government and asking the national Executive to take a position on the MDB’s position in the presidential election. In the text, he argues that the majority of the party and voters at the convention “are directly opposed to an electoral alliance with the PT”, and that “the lack of definition generates unnecessary noise for our party”.
“We must be clear about what we defend for our country. I understand that it is inconceivable that a party with the history and size of the MDB is the target of unreasonable attacks, labeled as a coup plotter even by the current PT government, without expressing its deep dissatisfaction”, says the document from the Goiás directory.
The movement is a reaction to the statement by leaders of the PT and the wing headed by the directorates of Alagoas, of the minister (Transport), and of Pará, of governor Helder Barbalho, who discuss the possibility of a national alliance between the parties. Helder and Renan Filho are tipped to be vice president, as PT minister Camilo Santana (Education) himself admitted
The minister’s father, the senator (MDB-AL) has said that the coalition will have more votes at the party convention in June.
These statements, in Vilela’s opinion, hinder the party. “On the part of the state directory of the MDB of Goiás, in addition to clearly reaffirming our position against an alliance with the PT, we are going to start a mobilization movement with other states so that our party clearly and forcefully admits to Brazilians that it is not and will never be allied with a government that promotes regression”, he warned, in the document delivered to the party’s national president last week.
According to three emedebistas, the broader letter, supported by 15 other state presidents, is softer than the document from the Goiás directory and does not openly preach opposition to the PT, but it also makes it clear that the majority of directories are in favor of independence, so that each one can choose the candidate they find most convenient for the regional strategy.
Vilela, for example, campaigns for Caiado, his ally. Gabriel Souza defends the name of the governor, who is working to be the PSD candidate for President. Other directories, such as the one in Rio de Janeiro, will ask for votes for senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ), while the majority of those in the Northeast defend Lula’s re-election.
More than appointing a candidate, the letter signed by the majority of state presidents seeks to show that the group opposed to the PT is larger than the wing in favor of supporting Lula. The movement occurs on the eve of the opening of the window for deputies to change parties. The perception of Emedebist leaders is that the possibility of an alliance with the left would be alienating affiliations.
