Longest-lived among parties with uninterrupted activity in Brazil, it turns 60 this Tuesday (24) balancing between historical flags, the spirit of federation of local leaders and the pragmatism of those seeking to remain relevant in the Brazilian political scene.
The party has 2 million members, the largest number among the 30 parties active in Brazil. But it faces a challenging moment amid party fragmentation, the aging of its staff and the loss of space between city halls, where it reigned supreme for more than two decades.
After reaching its worst moment in the 2018 election, when some of its historic leaders were defeated at the polls, the party increased its bench in the Chamber again in 2022 and aims for new growth in October.
“The MDB is a more stable party because it has a statute and an internal democracy that provides less mobility for changes of direction, but it provides stability for us to value our municipalist base and our flag of defending democracy”, states the national president of the MDB, federal deputy Baleia Rossi (SP).
The party was founded on March 24, 1966 to be the consented opposition to the military dictatorship, which determined the extinction of the parties existing at the time with Institutional Act nº2. In a two-party system, it would be the counterpoint to Arena, the regime’s support party.
Its staff included moderate politicians from the former PSD who opposed the dictatorship, names from the labor left who came from Getúlio Vargas’ PTB and even some with a history in the Communist Party. Thus, it brought together politicians such as Tancredo Neves, Ulysses Guimarães and Fernando Lyra.
Its first turning point would occur in September 1973, when the party met at a National Convention to define the candidate in the indirect election to succeed General Emílio Garrastazu Médici. With the dictatorship in one of its darkest periods, it would be a card game.
The party was divided, under pressure from the authentic group, a combative nucleus of opposition to the regime led by deputies such as Alencar Furtado, Paes de Andrade and Lysâneas Maciel.
“We are not in a united order, however […] We do not have in our decisions the suspicion, imposition or ridicule of certain unanimities”, said deputy Alencar Furtado, according to the minutes of the convention. The document will be published in full on the Ulysses Guimarães Foundation website this Tuesday.
The MDB of federal deputy Ulysses Guimarães (SP) to the Presidency of the Republic, in a bold action that challenged the generals. The objective was to denounce the electoral process and debate the situation in the country, which was showing signs of crisis after the economic miracle.
The campaign connected the population to the party, which was defeated in the electoral college, but would have a surprising performance in the 1974 parliamentary elections, when it elected 16 of the 22 seats in dispute for the Senate. In response, the dictatorship would create the figure of the bionic senator, indirectly elected, three years later.
In the following years, the MDB played an important role in confronting the dictatorship in the political field, supporting direct elections and the drafting of a new Constitution. In a maneuver by the regime, it was forced to change its name to PMDB – the original acronym would only be resumed in 2017.
After electing Tancredo Neves in the electoral college in 1985, the party governed the country for five years with José Sarney, who took over the government in place of the president who died without taking office. The party would contest the presidential elections of 1989, 1994, 2018 and 2022, with poor results.
With a strong presence in the National Congress, the MDB participated in governments (), and (), maintaining a relationship marked by crises and tensions.
Ten years ago, when it completed half a century of founding, the party had just disembarked from Dilma’s government, starting to openly advocate for the impeachment of the then president. A month later, Dilma was removed and the deputy (MDB) took over under accusations of coup and treason.
Temer created a government aligned with the right, anchored in the Bridge to the Future project, facing turbulence, including two requests to open charges against him. The result was the blow in 2018, in the election marked by the rise of . The MDB elected only 34 federal deputies, compared to 66 in the previous election.
In 2022, the party would grow again, electing 42 deputies, but two years later it lost the position of party with the most mayors in the country to the PSD.
He got closer to the PT again, taking up positions in the Lula government with the ministers (Cities) and (Transport) and (Planning) – the latter will leave the party and run for the Senate.
The party remains undefined for the October election, but the tendency is towards neutrality: “As the country is radicalized between two poles and the MDB has this position of moderation, I believe that the majority decision will be for independence in the national election”, says Baleia Rossi.
A portion of the party should informally support President Lula, especially in states in the Northeast, while another part will ally with (PL), mainly in the South and Center-West.
At the grassroots, the MDB articulates candidacies for the governments of nine states, with names competing in Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Sul, Goiás, Pará, Alagoas, Espírito Santo, Paraíba, Paraná and Maranhão.
