Cid Gomes assumes PDT in Ceará and renews alliance with PT – 07/13/2023 – Politics

Senator Cid Gomes assumed the presidency of the state directory of the PDT in Ceará this Thursday (13), spoke of ‘turning the page’ of the break with the PT in 2022 and indicated that he will, within the party instances, make an internal confrontation with the dissidents, including his brother and former Minister Ciro Gomes (PDT).

Cid’s ascension to the party’s command was sewn nationally last week in an agreement mediated by the party’s licensed president, Social Security Minister Carlos Lupi.

The agreement provides for a leave of absence for federal deputy André Figueiredo from the presidency for four months, a period in which Cid Gomes takes over to try to give the party a direction and stop internal conflicts. Next year, Figueiredo returns to command the PDT in Ceará.

Cid Gomes arrived around 4:30 pm at the party’s headquarters, in Fortaleza, alongside allied deputies and joined the other executive representatives with a promise of a long meeting.

It took about an hour for his name to be endorsed as president and another two for the first party definitions to be agreed with a view to the 2024 municipal elections.

None of the names of the party’s dissident wing attended the meeting, which sees with reservations a rapprochement between the PDT and Governor Elmano de Freitas (PT). The name closest to this group was André Figueiredo, who modulated his speech and indicated his endorsement of a rapprochement with the PT.

In an interview with the press upon arrival of the meeting, Cid Gomes avoided speaking on his brother’s behalf when asked about the party’s internal split. And he said any internal disagreements will be treated respectfully.

“Family problems we solve at home, political differences are resolved in the appropriate instances. […] If we have differences, these will be dealt with in the field of democracy”.

The senator defended the agreement that led him to the interim presidency of the PDT state directory and said that there are no winners or losers.

“There is a lack of definition in the position of the PDT in state politics that leaves our leaders insecure. I want, collectively, to make the party have a direction”, he said.

He highlighted that there is a majority feeling in the party towards ‘turning the page’ of the division that resulted in the break with the PT in the 2022 elections and seek a realignment of forces.

Governor Elmano de Freitas himself, highlighted Cid, has been working in this direction by referring to his government as a continuation of the political project started with the pedetista in 2007, when he was elected governor for the first time with the support of the PT.

Regarding the dissident groups, which includes his brother Ciro Gomes, Cid stated that he will give every opportunity for them to express their positions and stop the party’s internal dispute. And he used a metaphor that refers to the family to say that the majority must prevail.

“Trends, different views, this has a party, it has in people’s homes. In people’s homes, you will discuss a topic, one thinks one way, another thinks another way. The important thing is that, when the family is express its decision, whether it is a majority decision,” he said.

In the current scenario, most state and federal deputies are in favor of an alliance with the PT in Ceará. Going against the current, however, there are important names in the party, such as Ciro Gomes and former mayor of Fortaleza Roberto Cláudio, defeated in the 2022 gubernatorial race.

Asked about possible clashes with the dissident group, Cid Gomes highlighted that internal disputes are natural and that “the important thing is that the majority speaks for the party and gives the final word”.

Cid outlined a work plan for the coming months that includes three fronts: organizing a commission to talk to allied parties, raising potential candidacies for city halls in Ceará municipalities and solidifying the internal organization of the party.

One of the main imbroglios is in Fortaleza. Mayor Sarto Nogueira (PDT), who is closest to Ciro, wants to run for re-election, but does not have the support of the PT or the pedestrian wing linked to Senator Cid Gomes.

The party is experiencing a scenario of barbs being exchanged serially at the municipal level. The president of the Legislative Assembly, state deputy Evandro Leitão (PDT), has been moving to run for mayor.

On the other hand, the PDT national directory, which is being temporarily commanded by André Figueiredo, says that Sarto’s candidacy is guaranteed and that the mayor just won’t run for re-election if he doesn’t want to.

Cid Gomes says that internal disputes are natural and that it is necessary to live together in the most respectful way possible. But he highlighted that he will work for a candidacy in Fortaleza that unites PDT and PT.

Since the 2022 election, the relationship between the Ferreira Gomes brothers, Ciro and Cid (both from the PDT), has been strained. The former presidential candidate suffered fourth place in the race for the Planalto Palace, his worst result in the four times he ran for office, without having the senator on his podium.

The senator, in turn, was more active in the second round campaign of the current president, Lula (PT). Months after the election, the two brothers are again on opposite sides.

Ciro says he was abandoned by Cid, who prioritized an alliance with the PT and with the former governor of Ceará and current Minister of Education, Camilo Santana (PT). The senator did not get involved in his brother’s candidacy in the same way he did in past elections, when he was his campaign coordinator.

In an interview with Sheet at the beginning of the month, Cid countered Ciro’s complaints and said that there was no betrayal.

“It wasn’t betrayal. Betrayal is something you do and don’t warn. I warned you that I wouldn’t speak out about the state election. Now Ciro is there talking about being stabbed”, says the senator, referring to his brother’s speech about having been attacked by the back for him because of the lawsuit.

After exchanging barbs, the brothers participated in a virtual meeting mediated by the national directory in which the agreement was sewn that raised Cid to the state command of the Ceará PDT until 2024.