The former president () must publish a list of the names of the pre-candidates he will support in the October elections, as he is under house arrest and is prevented from participating in his allies’ political campaigns.
According to people close to Bolsonaro, the idea is to nominate at least the pre-candidates for the PL Senate, but the disclosure could extend to pre-candidates for state governments and even names from other parties that have the former president’s approval.
So far, according to the coordination of the senator’s pre-campaign (PL-RJ).
At a time when Bolsonaro is isolated from political life, the list would serve as guidance to resolve internal Bolsonaro disputes in some states. Part of these rivalries involves names that the former first lady (PL) .
The strategy is to limit the voting options of Bolsonarists to prevent voters from choosing opposition pre-candidates other than those blessed by the clan — what an interlocutor of the former president called “free riders”.
An agreement at the top of the PL established that Bolsonaro would choose the party’s candidates for the Senate, while the president of the party, , would define the names for the governments — which has been done since the party window, in March, and should only end at the conventions, between July and August.
This year, 54 of the 81 seats in the Senate are at stake, so each state chooses two representatives. Bolsonaro’s objective is to elect up to 35 allied senators and, with parliamentarians who are in the middle of their term, ministers of the (Supreme Federal Court).
Bolsonaro’s arrest hampered his role in the political articulation of Flávio and the PL. Until the end of March, when he was placed under house arrest, by the Federal Police and Papudinha, the former president could receive visits and was approached by pre-candidates looking for support. In these meetings, they discussed the electoral scenario in each state.
After being hospitalized with pneumonia, Bolsonaro was authorized by the STF minister. The former president can only have contact with Michelle, his children, his doctors and lawyers.
Bolsonaro’s list is seen as a way of expressing the former president’s will in relation to the elections, which was previously transmitted by him directly to his chosen ones.
After visiting the former president on the 16th, Carlos Bolsonaro (PL), pre-candidate for the Senate for Santa Catarina, stated that they had discussed some platforms. “We talk a lot about politics and also about the names of possible senators. We will have news soon”, he published. In February, Carlos had said that his father would draw up the list.
Santa Catarina, for example, is one of the states where there were disputes that the list would help resolve, in the view of Bolsonaro supporters. The PL had defined that it would support Carlos and senator Esperidião Amin (PP-SC) for the Senate, but Michelle defended deputy Caroline de Toni (PL-SC) for the post and .
Recently, Michelle has been making nods to Esperidião in yet another sign of disagreement with her stepchildren.
The main controversy, however, concerns the dispute in São Paulo, where the PL will support (PP) and André do Prado (PL) for the Senate, while (Novo) runs on the outside.
The choice of André do Prado, preferred by Valdemar and the governor (Republicans), had the approval of the former deputy (PL-SP), who passed over other more ideological names.
Therefore, the definition was accompanied by explanations from Eduardo to the Bolsonarista electorate, mainly on social media.
In this case, Bolsonaro’s list endorsing André’s pre-candidacy is the main bet of Flávio’s assistants to contain internal criticism.
As shown by Sheet, whose favorite for the position was the vice-mayor of São Paulo, Ricardo Mello Araújo (PL), which encouraged the accusation that André did not represent Bolsonarism, but the centrão.
In Ceará, the government, while the candidates for the Senate would be Alcides Fernandes (PL) and Capitão Wagner (União Brasil).
Michelle, however, insists that the second candidate for the Senate be councilor Priscila Costa (PL), who faces resistance from the party’s local leadership. In this case, Bolsonaro’s list could legitimize the councilwoman’s candidacy.
In Mato Grosso do Sul, Bolsonaro’s guidance would serve to arbitrate the dispute between three PL names for the two Senate seats — Marcos Pollon, Capitão Contar and Reinaldo Azambuja.
Pollon, who is supported by the former first lady, has in his favor a note written by Bolsonaro in which the former president says he is his candidate due to his “character, honor and dedication”.
