Lula’s PT will prioritize alliances in the 2024 municipal elections

The recent movements of former president Jair Bolsonaro with the PL have caused the PT summit to accelerate articulations for next year’s municipal elections. With no new cadres, the PT acronym defends alliances with parties that supported President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the presidential race.

PT leaders indicate that, so far, the polarization scenario seen in last year’s elections between Lula and Bolsonaro is also designed for the 2024 dispute in several capitals. With that, a wing of the party defends that the acronym supports candidacies of allies that have more capillarity to face the candidates of the right.

The strategy, according to PT members, is different from that adopted in 2020, when Lula’s acronym had its own candidates in 21 capitals, but did not elect any name. In São Paulo, for example, the agreement designed is for the PT to support the candidacy of Guilherme Boulos (PSol).

The agreement, which was designed by Lula still in the presidential race last year, however, still faces resistance in the São Paulo PT directory. To try to minimize the impasses, the national president of the acronym, deputy Gleisi Hoffmann (PR), met last week with the national secretary of Communication of the party, Jilmar Tatto.

The secretary is one of the most resistant to the name of Boulos and has argued that the PSol pre-candidate would have difficulties in raising support among the center parties. In 2020, Boulos reached the second round, but ended up defeated by Bruno Covas (PSDB), who died in 2021.

Tatto argues that the PL, former president Bolsonaro’s party, should have its own candidates in almost all capitals. In São Paulo, for example, the expectation is that Mayor Ricardo Nunes will leave the MDB to join the PL and have Bolsonaro’s support in the capital. Without an agreement, Hoffmann and Tatto will continue discussions in the coming weeks.

PT should not have its own candidacy in the main capitals of the country

In addition to São Paulo with the support of the name of Boulos, the PT is moving towards an agreement with other parties in the main capitals of the country. In Rio de Janeiro, the second largest capital in the country, Lula’s party intends to support the re-election of Eduardo Paes (PSD).

Stronghold of the Bolsonaro family, the PL is already working on agreements to launch General Braga Netto, who was vice-president of Bolsonaro’s ticket last year. In addition, former minister and deputy Eduardo Pazuello (PL-RJ) also works to make his name viable.

In Salvador, the governor of Bahia, Jerônimo Rodrigues (PT), works so that his political group has only one candidacy. The name should still be defined in the coming months, but vice-governor Geraldo Júnior (MDB) and former councilor José Trindade (PSB) are the favorites. The PT’s expectation is to have only “one Lula candidate” in order to defeat the current mayor, Bruno Reis (União Brasil).

In Minas Gerais, Gleisi Hoffmann has already indicated that there is still no definition of a proper candidacy for Belo Horizonte and it would not be a problem to talk to other parties in the federation, which in addition to the PT includes the PV and the PCdoB. Part of the PT advocates supporting Mayor Fuad Noman’s PSD and negotiating a vice nomination on the ticket.

“We are looking to talk nationally. We have already established a conversation table about this, so the idea is for us to analyze the capitals, especially those that are very important to us and the municipalities where we have over 100,000 voters”, explained Hoffmann.

In Recife, Lula is working so that Mayor João Campos (PSB) closes an alliance with the PT for the re-election dispute. In 2020, Campos clashed with Marília Arraes, who ran for mayoralty for the PT and ended up being defeated in the second round.

The rapprochement of the parties took place during last year’s presidential race. Now, the PT’s expectation is to place an ally as vice-president on Campos’ ticket. “We want to prepare a tactic for the dispute in the municipal elections that will strengthen both the PT and our federation, which includes the PCdoB and the PV, as well as the allies. Especially those who supported Lula’s candidacy in the first round of past elections” , explained the National Secretary General of the party, Henrique Fontana.

PT shrank in the 2020 municipal elections

In addition to not being able to elect any capital mayor, the PT recorded the lowest number of elected candidates in the 2020 municipal elections. In all, Lula’s party won only 183 mayoral elections. The number was the lowest in the last ten years.

In 2012, in the first term of President Dilma Rousseff, 630 victories were won. Among them, including in the capital of São Paulo, with Fernando Haddad, current Minister of Finance. In 2016, at the height of anti-PTism with Lava Jato and the impeachment of Dilma, there were 256 mayors.

In addition, the PT won, in 2020, the dispute in only seven cities with more than 200 thousand inhabitants. Currently, Lula’s party occupies the 11th position among the parties, considering the number of city halls.