Local disputes block union of PSB, PDT and Solidarity – 04/12/2023 – Politics

Negotiations for a federation between PSB, PDT and Solidarity, started in March, come up against the lack of harmony between the parties for the municipal elections scheduled for next year.

Despite being from the same political field and allies of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), the three parties have conflicting interests in the mayoral disputes of capitals such as São Paulo, Salvador, Fortaleza, Recife, Natal and Curitiba.

Party federation is the union of two or more parties that must act, for at least four years, as if it were a single party. The rule is also valid for acting in the Legislature and for electoral disputes during its term.

The municipal elections are seen as strategic for the parties to increase the number of mayors and councilors, who would act as electoral cables for candidates for deputy in 2026.

In São Paulo, the main electoral college in dispute next year, interests are divergent.

The PSB wants to launch the federal deputy Tabata Amaral to the city hall, the PDT presented the pre-candidacy of the presenter José Luiz Datena and Solidariedade is part of the base of the mayor Ricardo Nunes (MDB) and tends to support his re-election.

The conflict makes party leaders bet on an alliance only in the 2026 election.

State president of the PDT, Antonio Neto defends that the parties form a parliamentary bloc in Congress as a kind of rehearsal for the federation: “The idea is to make the engagement first and only then think about a wedding”.

He further claims that there is resistance in the party to possible support for the candidacy of Tabata Amaral, who was already affiliated with the PDT and left the party noisily in 2021 amid internal conflicts.

In Bahia, PDT and PSB are in opposite camps. While the PSB is a historical ally of the Bahian PT, the PDT supported the candidacy of ACM Neto (União Brasil) for the Government of Bahia last year.

The dispute for the Mayor of Salvador in 2024 would be a new obstacle between the two acronyms.

The PDT is the party of Ana Paula Matos, deputy mayor under Mayor Bruno Reis (União Brasil). Both are expected to run for re-election next year. The PSB, in turn, launched the pre-candidacy of federal deputy Lídice da Mata, who was mayor of the city from 1993 to 1996.

President of the PDT in Bahia, federal deputy Félix Júnior defends that parties with a mandate in the Executive have priority in the federation.

Lídice da Mata, president of Bahia’s PSB, anticipates the difficulties: “We are on different sides in Bahia. One side will have to give in and I will fight for it not to be mine.”

In Curitiba, there are at least four pre-candidates for mayoralty in the three parties negotiating the federation: federal deputy Luciano Ducci (PSB), senator Flávio Arns (PSB), state deputy Goura (PDT) and federal deputy Luizão Goulart (Solidarity).

President of the PSB in Paraná, Luciano Ducci defends the federation as early as 2024 and says that the debate cannot be jeopardized by local issues: “All disputes are perfectly solvable. Just have common sense and follow objective criteria”.

Another imbroglio is in Rio Grande do Norte, where the three parties are on opposite sides. The PSB’s most quoted candidate to run for Mayor of Natal is former deputy Rafael Motta, who lost the Senate race in 2022. One of his rivals was former Natal mayor Carlos Eduardo Alves (PDT), who may run for the municipal elections in the capital again.

The situation in the state is considered one of the most delicate, due to the fierce rivalries between PDT and PSB.

In Recife, the PDT is allied with the PSB, the party of Mayor João Campos, who wants to run for re-election and is in favor of the federation as early as 2024. Solidariedade is commanded by former federal deputy Marília Arraes, defeated in the second round for the Government of Pernambuco in 2022.

An eventual federation could bring the second cousins ​​together. Opponents in 2020 in the mayoral election, João Campos and Marília Arraes are not close politically. The situation became less tense after his support for the former PT candidate in the second round of the 2022 state election.

Marília Arraes has not signaled her intention to run for mayor of the capital again. A part of her allies advocate that she plead for the Prefecture of Olinda.

In Fortaleza, Mayor Sarto Nogueira (PDT) has a close relationship with the PSB – two councilors from the party broke with the administration and migrated to the opposition in recent weeks. Deputy Mayor Élcio Batista left the PSB and migrated to the PSDB.

PDT and PSB rehearsed a rapprochement in the 2020 municipal elections, when they closed alliances in 45 cities with more than 100 thousand inhabitants, including doubles in at least eight capitals.

The partnership was supposed to be a kind of laboratory for the 2022 elections, but the two parties followed different paths in the presidential election: the PDT launched the candidacy of Ciro Gomes, while the PSB composed the ticket led by Lula who emerged victorious from the polls.

The summits of PSB, PDT and Solidarity practically have a consensus around the federation for the 2026 elections. For 2024, there are internal divergences in the three parties.

In Solidariedade, the main defender is former deputy Paulinho da Força, while the bench in the Chamber resists the bond for next year. At PSB, João Campos, an influential leader of the party, is already an enthusiast of the federation for 2024.

Social Security Minister Carlos Lupi, licensed president of the PDT, is skeptical about the federation for next year, according to members of the party’s Executive. But a wing of the bench in the Chamber, headed by federal deputies from Ceará, defends the construction.

The objective of the parties with the federation is to build muscle in negotiations with the federal government, in addition to being more robust to achieve the performance clause in the next elections. In 2022, Solidariedade elected four federal deputies and was unable to overcome the clause. To reach the minimum level, it incorporated another legend: the Pros.

PSB and PDT, in turn, underperformed the record of the parties in Congress. The pedetistas elected 17 federal deputies and the pesebistas saw their bench drop to 15 parliamentarians in the Chamber.

The parties are in the process of internal consultations and are discussing the criteria for choosing who will lead the federation in each state. One of the criteria would be the highest number of votes in the last election for federal deputy. But there would be prevalence of parties in the places where they elected the governor or mayor of the capital.