Datena animates PDT with candidacy for mayor of SP – 06/27/2023 – Politics

The presenter José Luiz Datena will be the star of a PDT act this Friday night (30) to mark his affiliation to the party, which wants to launch him in the race for São Paulo City Hall in 2024. kind of launch of the pre-candidacy.

Datena, who in the last eight years has already given up on four candidacies, this time signaled to party members that she will go all the way, which has excited the caption of former presidential candidate Ciro Gomes.

Questioned by the report, however, the journalist showed caution and confirmed for Friday only the affiliation. “Moreover, it depends on the party”, he replied about the eventual candidacy. “This time, without skipping steps,” he said, who has been saying he is excited about the possibility.

The festive act will be at the municipal headquarters of the legend, in Jardim Paulista (west zone).

PDT leaders who talk to the presenter take his participation in the dispute for granted. The national president, Carlos Lupi, already treats him as the future “first labor mayor in the history” of the city. The municipal president, Antonio Neto, says that with Datena the initials will “play the A series”.

The dispute already has the candidate for re-election Ricardo Nunes (MDB) and federal deputies Guilherme Boulos (PSOL) —supported by President Lula (PT)— and Tabata Amaral (PSB).

The MBL (Movimento Brasil Livre) is holding a kind of previews to choose between federal deputy Kim Kataguiri and state deputy Guto Zacarias, both exponents of the group and affiliated to União Brasil. As the party is currently based on Nunes, there are still doubts about the formalization of a candidacy.

Datena is hired by Band and works on the group’s TV and radio channels. His flagship is “Brasil Urgente”, which he has run since 2011, with police news, coverage of tragedies and provision of services.

The company does not confirm the end date of the current contract, but comments circulate in the PDT that the communicator is preparing to leave for 2024 and should pass the baton to his son Joel, who is also an employee of the house.

Datena has already made the move to rehearse a candidacy and give up four times.

In 2016, he considered running for mayor of São Paulo. Already in 2018 he thought about running for the Senate, while in 2020 he could have been a candidate for deputy mayor on the ticket of Bruno Covas (PSDB). In 2022, affiliated with the PSC, he would try to become a senator, but announced at the last minute that he preferred to continue working as a communicator.

Information about membership in the PDT was made public in March of this year. The following month, a video was released of a conversation between him and Boulos at the psolist’s house. In the recording, he suggested to the deputy to “combat” Lula and, leaving aside the agreement with the PT, invite him to be vice-president.

The episode embarrassed Boulos, who is making an effort to mend disagreements with the PT in the capital and waves with the vacancy of deputy for the legend. The chance of a union with Datena today is considered unlikely.

The PDT, with Neto himself, disputed the 2020 election occupying the vice of Márcio França (PSB). The slate was in third place, with 13.6% of the votes. Boulos went to the second round against Covas (who died in 2021 and left the chair to Nunes) and today he is the favorite, with the preference of the left.

Datena’s political trajectory, in turn, is erratic. He was already affiliated with the PT, then approached right-wing acronyms and in 2022 met with both Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and Lula. Also last year, he was quoted as deputy to Ciro, with whom he is a friend.

According to Neto, the PDT considers it important to present a project for the capital of São Paulo and defends that this happens even if a considerable part of the left gathers around Boulos.

“Datena’s pre-candidacy is a great joy, an honor for the PDT”, said the municipal president, who already treats the presenter as a partner. “He IS a popular leader who has great empathy for the pain of our people and a genuine vocation to work on behalf of those most in need.”

Other candidates and campaign organizers targeting the city of São Paulo remain skeptical about the eventual entry of the communicator into the 2024 chessboard, repeating that it is necessary to wait until the last minute to see if the plans of the party and the presenter will materialize.

“We are organizing ourselves in São Paulo to have the first labor mayor in history, committed to popular causes and prioritizing full-time education for our children,” said Lupi to Sheet.

The president of the party, who is also the Minister of Social Security, endorses the message that Datena is in tune with the plight of the poorest population and says that his candidacy will help the PDT to strengthen. Lula’s assistant participated at least twice in the journalist’s programs this year.

The presenter has also used spaces on TV and radio to make specific criticisms of Nunes, his virtual opponent. He complained, for example, about the maintenance of R$ 35 billion in the city hall’s cash, while problems accumulate in the municipality.

Pedestrians think Datena can attract voters who today, due to sheer lack of options, would be tending to vote for the mayor. Strategists believe that this share can be conquered by the presenter’s popular and combative style.