The departure of the former mayor of Divinópolis Gleidson Azevedo do Novo reinforced the fear among party members that the party would be left without the vice-president vacancy promised by the candidate for re-election.
The decision by Cleitinho Azevedo’s twin brother (Republicans) to join the same party as the senator was taken at the end of the party window and caught Novo leaders by surprise.
Gleidson was seen as one of the party’s main candidates for the Chamber of Deputies. This year, the party’s national priority is to regain access to party funds and advertising time on TV and radio.
In the Republicans, Gleidson can run for the Chamber or the Senate – if his brother decides to run for the Government of Minas.
Gleidson’s departure reinforced the internal assessment that Novo is weakened in the state. Members see the risk of breaking the agreement with the PSD, which provides for the nomination of the vice-president on Simões’ ticket.
Publicly, the governor and the president of the PSD, Gilberto Kassab, say that the choice will be made by Romeu Zema (Novo), Simões’ predecessor and pre-candidate for the Presidency.
Privately, people linked to Simões’ pre-campaign believe that the vice position could be allocated to other acronyms, such as PL. The party left the ticket after , a likely candidate for the Senate in a vacancy previously sought by the PL.
“After last week’s movements, Novo views with concern any sign that commitments made may not be fulfilled. There is an agreement that needs to be respected, especially when it involves a project between different parties”, Belo Horizonte councilor Marcela Trópia (Novo) told the column.
Last month, the national president of Novo, Eduardo Ribeiro, said that, if the agreement with the PSDB is broken, Zema will support another candidate for the government of Minas.
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