Kassab must support Nunes to avoid Bolsonarist accusation – 05/24/2023 – Politics

The mayor of São Paulo, Ricardo Nunes (MDB), is about to count on the support of Gilberto Kassab, secretary of government under Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), in next year’s election.

PSD president and one of the main articulators of Tarcísio and the government, Kassab has already communicated to the mayor his intention to support him. The PSD, however, is yet to make the decision official after internal discussions.

So far, federal deputies Guilherme Boulos (PSOL), Ricardo Salles (PL) and Tabata Amaral (PSB) have already shown interest in running for Mayor of São Paulo, just as Nunes will try for re-election.

A Sheet found out that Kassab even informed Tarcísio himself of the reasons why he would be able to support the current mayor. The governor, in turn, would have shown sympathy for Salles’ candidacy, but has not yet taken any decision.

The Republicans, Tarcísio’s party, have been reaching out to Nunes to support him. The leaders of the acronym even opened conversations with the current mayor to indicate the vice on the plate.

Tarcísio and Salles were ministers, respectively, of Infrastructure and the Environment in the government of Jair Bolsonaro (PL). The trio maintains a mutually supportive relationship to this day.

Bolsonaro would have already said, during an Agrishow event, that he should not support Nunes because he did not receive his support in the dispute with Lula (PT) in 2022 and because he has already declared that he is not from the right, but from the center, as shown by the Panel.

The assessment among the PSD leadership is that the possible alliance between Kassab and Nunes will have less impact on the image of the party president. Kassab already has the quota to compose the management of Bolsonarista Tarcísio.

Since before the campaign and at Palácio dos Bandeirantes, Kassab has fulfilled his role as an influential politician. He was one of the main guarantors of Tarcísio’s campaign for the Government of São Paulo.

Carioca, a neophyte in politics and sponsored by Bolsonaro, Tarcísio arrived at the Palácio dos Bandeirantes, displacing Fernando Haddad (PT), Lula’s candidate, and Rodrigo Garcia (PSDB), who had a machine in his hand and the tradition of toucans in São Paulo.

Throughout the 2022 campaign, Kassab led a delegation and traveled to the four corners of the state to gather mayors for Tarcísio’s candidacy.

Only in the second round did the Republican candidate obtain support from at least 500 mayors of 645 municipalities. The vast majority of them were closed with Rodrigo in the first round.

The possibility of support makes Nunes enthusiastic about Kassab’s legacy as mayor of São Paulo. The current Secretary of Government was mayor from 2006 to 2012, as well as minister in the Dilma Rousseff (PT) and Michel Temer (PT) governments.

The agreement, however, could be changed if Tabata Amaral manages to make his candidacy in the PSB viable. She has already told the party that she will only enter next year’s election to run for mayoral leadership, and is not willing to compose a vice-presidential ticket, for example. As a last resort, Tabata will continue to work as a deputy.

In the assessment of Kassab and PSD allies, Tabata has the potential and conditions to carry out good management in the capital. But Tarcísio’s secretary weighs in on the fact that she is affiliated with a left-wing party — unlike Nunes, who transits in the center.

The pessebist also has in her favor greater conditions of not governing under the influence of São Paulo chiefs, especially the president of the Chamber of Councillors, Milton Leite (União Brasil), an ally of Nunes.

The mayor’s alliance with Leite has so far made it possible for all the Executive’s projects to be approved.

Polls and surveys carried out by politicians show that Nunes would be at a disadvantage in relation to Boulos in the preference of São Paulo citizens. The PSOL deputy won the most votes in São Paulo last year. Salles and Tabata were, respectively, with the fourth and sixth poll in the state in 2022.

The three deputies have been taking advantage of social networks and the platform in the Chamber to question the Nunes administration, in addition to going to court against city hall decisions.

The mayor also faces difficulties in janitorial areas, with bumpy and poorly signposted roads, and the degradation of the center.

In this scenario, the emedebist increasingly invests in building political alliances that strengthen his candidacy. Nunes currently has nods from União Brasil, PSDB, PP, Podemos, Republicans and Solidarity.