Bolsonaro vetoes PL support for Kassab’s PSD candidates, says newspaper

Former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) would have vetoed his party’s support for PSD candidates, an acronym led by Gilberto Kassab, current head of the Secretariat of Government and Institutional Relations of the government of São Paulo, a state governed by Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans ), Bolsonaro’s political godson.

Information about the veto was published by the newspaper The State of São Paulo (Estadão), this Wednesday (14), following the leak of an audio obtained by the newspaper.

Bolsonaro’s statement would have been made in conversations about the election in Presidente Prudente, in the interior of São Paulo, but according to sources who revealed to Estadão, the veto would extend to the entire country.

“I make it clear: Kassab’s PSD, I don’t support anyone, okay?”, Bolsonaro reportedly said in the audio.

In addition to occupying the most important secretariat in the São Paulo government, the PSD occupies 329 city halls in the state and has three ministries in the Lula government.

As reported by People’s Gazetteon February 1, 2024, Bolsonaro attributes to the president of the PSD, Gilberto Kassab, the votes given by the party’s parliamentarians to the final report of the controversial CPMI of 8/1 that called for his indictment.

“Kassab ordered all his deputies and senators to vote against Jair Bolsonaro, in favor of the report, to indict me at the CPMI regardless of evidence so that he would have three ministries in the Lula government. This is the profile. Kassab well represents the character of the old Brazilian politician”, stated the former president during an interview given to the Sem Filtro program, from the magazine West.

Bolsonaro also insinuated that the positioning of the acronym in the CPMI would have been used as a bargaining chip with the government to secure ministries.

Officially, the vice-president of the PL, federal deputy Captain Augusto (SP), did not confirm the veto on candidates from Kassab’s party, but recalled that the support of PSD parliamentarians for the CPMI report was “fundamental” for its approval. .

“If the PSD had voted with us, the score would be 16 to 15. There would be no indictment of the patriots or Bolsonaro. The PSD could have voted against the indictment and ended up voting in favor. Obviously, there is a rift there,” the deputy told Estadão.