Padilha prioritizes government agendas in SP with an eye on 2026 – 09/24/2023 – Power

The Minister of Institutional Relations, Alexandre Padilha (PT), has been taking advantage of his weekends throughout this year for a series of visits to cities in the interior of São Paulo, in a move seen by allies as anticipation of the 2026 electoral dispute.

Between January and September, Padilha visited the capital of São Paulo and 24 other cities in the interior. Most of these trips were made on FAB (Brazilian Air Force) aircraft. He has the right to use these planes because he is a minister.

The other states did not receive the same attention as Padilha. According to his public agenda, the person responsible for the government’s political articulation traveled in the same period to just five cities outside of São Paulo: Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Maricá (RJ), Caxias do Sul (RS), Belo Horizonte (MG) and Salvador BA).

There were other trips in which he participated in ministers’ delegations. In these cases, the trips were not his exclusive agenda.

When contacted, SRI said it was natural for Padilha to go to São Paulo more than to other states, since he is from São Paulo and has his base in the region. The ministry also criticized any relationship between the agendas and a possible candidacy.

Behind the scenes, allies say that Padilha seeks to consolidate his name and close political articulations to enable himself to be re-elected in 2026. His goal, they say, is to achieve a significant vote for re-election as a federal deputy capable of paving the way for a candidacy for the presidency of the Chamber of Deputies .

But allies do not rule out that Padilha tries to run for the state government or the Senate.

The current minister even ran for the São Paulo government in 2014, but finished third with 18.22% of the votes.

Padilha’s future, PT supporters point out, depends on Lula’s decision whether or not to run for re-election as President of the Republic.

If Lula leaves Planalto again, the dispute to be the PT candidate for the government of São Paulo would be between ministers Fernando Haddad (Finance), Luiz Marinho (Labor) and Padilha himself. The names of ministers Márcio França (PSB) and Simone Tebet (MDB) are also remembered for the state race.

Another ally has a different view. He believes that Padilha seeks to be the political heir of former PT president Rui Falcão, now 79 years old. Falcão was the PT federal deputy with the most votes in São Paulo, with almost 200 thousand voters.

The possibility that Padilha is targeting the political bases of other PT names, using the structure of the Presidency of the Republic to do so, has generated criticism among some allies.

Deputies from PT and base parties also complain that Padilha does not invite them to appointments in São Paulo, which is usually the practice. According to them, the minister thus centralizes and does not share the political gains with these agendas.

They also complain that Padilha uses his position and proximity to Lula — with whom he dispatches almost daily — to be the name of the government in São Paulo.

In a note, SRI informed that the minister’s agendas are created based on the invitations received and added that it is “natural” that most of the commitments are in São Paulo, considering that Padilha completed most of his professional and political career in the state —in addition to being elected federal deputy by São Paulo voters.

The ministry also argued that all accepted invitations are extended to parliamentarians from the respective regions.

“It is important to highlight that the insinuation of any relationship between the minister’s face-to-face activities in 2023, carried out in nine states of the country, with any candidacy for a majority position is absurd,” stated the ministry.

“It is a mistake to talk about the 2026 elections when there are still so many challenges to be faced by the country in this and the coming years. The government’s priority is to put social programs into practice, in addition to the effort to deliver works, which will count on the presence of SRI representatives”, he added.

As head of the Institutional Relations Secretariat, Padilha is also responsible for dialogue with other entities of the federation: municipalities and states. But his main role in these first months of government was in political articulation, seeking to build a governing base for Lula in the National Congress.

Padilha’s agenda in the state of São Paulo varies from participation in popular festivals, meetings with communities, religious events, inaugurations of works, visits to universities and a series of meetings with mayors.

On February 25, Padilha used a FAB plane to fly from Brasília to Campinas and then went to Jundiaí, a neighboring city. There he met with local bishop Dom Arnaldo Carvalheiro Neto and participated in the launch of the Fraternity and Hunger Campaign.

On another trip, this time to the capital, the minister visited the community of Heliópolis, the largest favela in São Paulo, where he met with leaders and spoke to residents.

The minister also used a FAB plane to travel to Barretos in August, where he met with Bolsonaro mayor Paula Lemos and visited the Festa do Peão.

Other São Paulo cities visited were Ribeirão Preto, Araçatuba, Araraquara, municipalities in Baixada Santista, Americana, Piracicaba, among others.

The minister was also recently in Marília, Ourinhos and Assis. On some of these trips, Padilha also participated in meetings with dozens of other representatives from smaller municipalities.