PL and MDB apply pressure with their own candidacies to succeed Lira

The election for the presidency of the Chamber of Deputies has begun and the parties are trying to garner support for candidacies to succeed Arthur Lira (PP-AL) in February 2025. As the largest group in the House, the Liberal Party (PL) seeks a name to succeed Lira, who has led the Chamber since 2021, while the MDB is courted by other groups, but guarantees that it will also have its own candidate.

Altineu Côrtes, leader of the PL, told People’s Gazette that the party’s candidacy for the presidency of the Chamber should only be announced in the second half of the year and will come in response to speculation that the PL was discussing support for Lira’s candidate. The president of the Chamber has not yet put the hammer down on who his nominee for succession will be, but the most popular name so far is that of the leader of União Brasil, deputy Elmar Nascimento (BA).

But there are disagreements within the PL about its own candidacy. Although the party’s deputies deny that there is a split in the party, some mention the possibility of supporting Lira’s candidate, depending on who the current president of the Chamber decides to sponsor.

A party parliamentarian, who spoke privately with the report, admitted that “anything can happen in the coming months”, when asked about PL’s own candidacy or support for Lira’s candidate.

Another PL deputy told People’s Gazette that Lira’s decision could go far beyond the nomination of Nascimento or Marcos Pereira (SP), president of the Republicans, and also one of the main candidates for succession in the Chamber.

In this context, other names would have a better chance of joining the PL and could more easily convince the party leadership not to present their own candidacy. The president of the Parliamentary Agricultural Front (FPA), Pedro Lupion (PP-PR); the PP leader, Doutor Luizinho (PP-RJ), and deputy Aguinaldo Ribeiro (PP-PB) would have more “adequate” profiles, compared to Nascimento and Pereira.

According to one of the parliamentarians who spoke privately to the report, Nascimento and Pereira started talking about their intentions in the dispute long before the election and were unlikely to have unanimity in the party.

The fact that he is from União Brasil, the same party as Senator Davi Alcolumbre (AP), who is one of the strongest names to succeed Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG) as president of the Senate, also weighs against Nascimento. The perception of parliamentarians is that it is not ideal for one party to have command of both legislative houses.

MDB resists attacks from União Brasil to support Nascimento

Meanwhile, the MDB guarantees that it resists the attempts of União Brasil to give up its own name and support Elmar Nascimento. Emedebista leader Isnaldo Bulhões (AL) told the report that despite Nascimento having sought support from the party’s leadership, “so far, there is no giving up by the MDB in giving in the dispute.” Bulhões is also one of those considered for succession.

Although he supported Lira’s reelection in 2023, the MDB ran against him two years earlier, in 2021, when former deputy Rodrigo Maia (at the time affiliated with the Democrats) was leaving the presidency of the Chamber. The candidate was deputy Baleia Rossi (MDB-SP), but, without support, the party lost and had to rebuild its alliances in the Chamber.

“The MDB knows that it needs to be on the winning side if it wants to reach greater heights, as it has done in the past by placing several presidents in the Chamber and Senate. Therefore, it is natural that they launch a pre-candidacy for their leader to have greater power of negotiation in the dispute”, assesses the director of the Ranking of Politicians, Juan Carlos Gonçalves.

The MDB leader himself stated that “there are excellent names” in the party and that it is natural for União Brasil to make moves in search of support from other parties, but the definitions should take place in the second half of the year, after the municipal elections.

União Brasil, in turn, must continue trying to obtain support from other parties to strengthen Elmar Nascimento’s candidacy, in a scenario that is still fragmented in the Chamber of Deputies.

In the assessment of analyst Adriano Cerqueira, from Ibmec in Belo Horizonte, the party will try to get closer to the blocs that concentrate the largest number of parliamentarians, as well as the other candidates that will emerge throughout this year.

Who are those considered to succeed Arthur Lira

• Elmar Nascimento (União-BA): The deputy is the leader of União Brasil in the Chamber of Deputies, a personal friend of the current president of the Chamber and considered the favorite in the dispute.
• Marcos Pereira (Republicanos-SP): 1st vice-president of the Chamber and president of the party. Representative of the evangelical group, he has approached the Lula government in search of support.
• Antônio Britto (PSD-BA): Leader of the PSD in the Chamber, he would be Planalto’s preferred candidate as he has a more moderate profile and speech.
• Isnaldo Bulhões (MDB-AL): The deputy is the leader of the MDB in the Chamber, and appointed as the party’s choice to succeed Lira, but he would compete for space with another suitor in the party.
• Eunício Oliveira (MDB-CE): A parliamentarian with many terms, Oliveira has already expressed his desire to run for president of the Chamber, although some peers say he has little chance of being the name of the MDB.
• Dr. Luizinho (PP- RJ): Dr. Luizinho took over the leadership of the PP in the Chamber and is emerging as a name with greater acceptance among other parties, in a possible dispute for the presidency.
• Aguinaldo Ribeiro (PP-PB): The deputy is also close to Arthur Lira and has good contact with the government, especially after reporting on the tax reform.
• Pedro Lupion (PP-PR): Lupion is the president of the Agricultural Parliamentary Front (FPA), which brings together around 300 parliamentarians, and is cited by colleagues as an option to succeed Lira. Privately, he has already told People’s Gazette who is not a candidate for President of the Chamber.