Governors build loose bases in the Assemblies – 05/02/2023 – Power

The new state deputies took office on Wednesday (1st) indicating a path of loose majority in the Legislative Assemblies for most of the new governors.

Deputies who were elected in opposition parties joined in the inauguration week and will swell the allied base of the new managers, reducing the margin for a tougher confrontation with the state governments.

Those elected took office this week in the Assemblies of 25 states. In São Paulo, the new deputies will only be sworn in on March 15, while in the Legislative Chamber of the Federal District the inauguration was on January 1.

The four PT governors will have smooth majorities in the Assemblies. In Bahia, Jerônimo Rodrigues will have a secure support base despite the tight result at the polls, where opposition parties elected 31 of the 63 state deputies.

At least 11 have already joined the governor, raising the allied base to 42 members of the Legislature. Among them are the six elected by the PP, a party that broke with Rui Costa (PT) in a noisy way in 2022 to support the candidacy for the government of ACM Neto (União Brasil).

The deputies met this week and defined that they will support the new government, despite the opposition posture of the party’s state president, federal deputy João Leão.

“We had a dialogue with the PP deputies and it was decided that, on those points that concern the state’s interest, the deputies will support our projects. I am happy”, said Governor Jerônimo Rodrigues.

At least 2 of the 4 PL state deputies are in dialogue with the government and should not oppose the governor. Among them is Vitor Azevedo (PL), who was chief of staff for the then Minister of Citizenship João Roma in the Jair Bolsonaro government.

In Ceará, part of the União Brasil and PSDB benches indicated support for Governor Elmano de Freitas (PT), as well as the majority of the PDT.

Petistas and pedetistas broke up in July 2022, when the PDT passed over governor Izolda Cela and chose former mayor of Fortaleza Roberto Cláudio as a candidate for governor.

Unorthodox alliances are likely to happen in other states as well. In Amazonas, for example, the PT will form part of the allied base of Governor Wilson Lima (União Brasil), who was Bolsonaro’s main electoral supporter in the state and should have a base of 22 of the 24 deputies.

The scenario is similar in Mato Grosso do Sul, where the three PT state deputies will form part of the base of Governor Eduardo Riedel (PSDB), who supported Bolsonaro in the presidential election.

The approximation between the parties took place in the second round of the 2022 election, but the alliance was sealed in January. The PT members will hold positions in the second echelon of the Tucano government in areas such as family farming, human rights and indigenous peoples.

“After much internal discussion, we decided to participate in the government because of this commitment to areas that are our priorities. However, we will be free to vote against or criticize if necessary”, says PT Pedro Kemp.

In Rio Grande do Sul, Governor Eduardo Leite (PSDB) managed to bring the PSB to his base and is now working to bring the PL, a party with which he had tough clashes in the second round of the state election against Onyx Lorenzoni.

In states such as Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and Pernambuco, fractures at the base leave governors in a less comfortable situation.

In Minas, Governor Romeu Zema (Novo) suffered a setback when he failed to win the candidacy of his ally, Roberto Andrade (Patriota), for the presidency of the Assembly.

He was surprised by an articulation that involved opposing parties such as PT and PL around the name of Tadeu Leite (MDB), who ended up being elected to the command of the Legislative in a single candidacy.

Throughout his first term, Zema failed to form a solid base in the Assembly, with only 21 of the 77 deputies in his base considered faithful. The trend is that the scenario of difficulties in the relationship with the House will remain in the next four years.

In Rio, governor Cláudio Castro (PL) fought a dispute with his own party for the presidency of the Legislative Assembly. On the one hand, the governor supported Rodrigo Bacellar (PL), but the hard core of the acronym preferred Jair Bittencourt (PL).

After discussions with Castro’s allies, Bacellar was elected to the position as the only candidate. But the friction created a rift in the governor’s base and the group linked to Bittencourt surrendered their government positions. With tension between the two groups, the ruling base remains uncertain.

The governor of Pernambuco, Raquel Lyra (PSDB), faces an unknown scenario in the assembly of her allied base in the Assembly, since the coalition that elected her has only 3 of the 49 state deputies.

With good traffic among his colleagues, the toucan Álvaro Porto was elected to the presidency of the Assembly. Even having an ally in charge, Lyra faces dissatisfactions in the House among those who were passed over in the assembly of the secretariat.

Present at the inauguration, the governor promised to maintain a “permanent dialogue” with the Assembly. The expectation is that she will try to build a majority based on the projects.

In general, the election of the Board of Directors last week brought allies of the governors to the highest position in most state legislatures.

The MDB showed that it still has regional protagonism and will be the party with the most presidents of state legislatures. The acronym will command the Legislative Assemblies of Minas, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul, Alagoas, Pará, in addition to the Chamber of the Federal District.

The PL will command the Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro and is a favorite to hold the same position in São Paulo with the state’s André do Prado. The PT, in turn, will only lead the Legislative Assembly of Piauí.

In two states, the Assemblies will be led by women: Iracema Vale (PSB) will preside over the House in Maranhão and Alliny Serrão (União Brasil) was elected in Amapá.