The meeting between the national president of the PT, Edinho Silva, and the former mayor of Contagem (MG) Marília Campos ended without an agreement for her to accept running for government of Minas Gerais for the party.
Edinho traveled to the State at the request of President Lula with the mission of convincing Marília to give up her candidacy for the Senate, in which she appears well positioned in the polls, and enter the race for Palácio Tiradentes. She, however, remains resistant to the idea.
According to allies of the former mayor, the meeting was “long”, “friendly” and “respectful” and also included the participation of the state president of the PT, state deputy Leninha (MG). Although a definition was not reached, it was agreed between the three that the hammer on the candidacy will be dropped next week.
In a statement, the president of the PT in Minas Gerais confirmed that no decision was taken at the meeting. “We will continue in dialogue with our management and state and national leaders. New dialogues will take place in the coming days”, he wrote.
PT bench decided on its own candidacy last week
Last Wednesday, the 24th, the PT bench met with President Lula in Brasília and decided on their own candidacy for the government of Minas Gerais.
Lula’s initial desire was to launch former Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG). For months, the PT member worked to convince his ally to enter the dispute, but Pacheco resisted the advances and ended up declining the candidacy.
The refusal forced Lula to recalculate the route in the State, considered one of the most strategic for the presidential election Since the Old Republic, all the candidates who won the dispute in the State also triumphed in the national election.
Before giving approval to his own candidacy, Lula flirted with supporting other candidacies, such as that of former councilor Gabriel Azevedo (MDB), pre-candidate for the Tiradentes Palace. The idea, however, faced resistance within the PT of Minas Gerais due to the Emedebista’s history.
Azevedo began his political activism in the PSDB, when the tucanos had Aécio Neves (PSDB) as their main leader in Minas Gerais, and was in favor of the impeachment of former president Dilma Rousseff (PT). There was also an attempt at rapprochement with former mayor Alexandre Kalil (PDT), but the talks did not progress.
