PSDB and MDB federation proposal ‘is on the table’, says Eduardo Leite

The possibility of federation between PSDB and MDB is real. The national president of the toucans and governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leite, and the national president of the emedebistas and federal deputy for São Paulo, Baleia Rossi, have already had conversations about the formation of a federation. The proposal “is on the table”, admitted Leite, in a press conference in Porto Alegre.

The toucan also revealed the possibility of a federation with Podemos. “There is a conversation. President Baleia Rossi was with me. We talked. It’s on the table. I set up an analysis commission (in the PSDB) on federation possibilities. There is a federation discussion with Podemos. There is open dialogue about the MDB”, described Leite.

Immersed in the early government agendas, the PSDB president only had his first meeting with the party’s national executive last week. Weighing in favor of a possible federation are the Electoral Law, which, since 2020, prohibits coalitions in proportional elections, and the poor performance of toucans in elections for the National Congress.

Among the possible paths, one would be to add the MDB to the federation that the PSDB already maintains with Citizenship and which is valid until the first months of 2026. Another would be a new federation that could include Citizenship, MDB, Podemos and other acronyms.

“Then, what comes into the federation discussion is: what is governance? Because there are municipal elections in the middle of the road. How is it? Cities where a government party, does it have preference for the candidacy? That’s the point”, pondered the gaucho.

Federation management is the pragmatic point that must be developed for a possible agreement. But there is also a programmatic point that presents difficulties.

While the PSDB maintains an independent position in relation to the federal government, the MDB has positions and ministries on the Esplanada of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).

“What are we rallying around? What is the minimum agenda that we want to represent? What are the guidelines that we are going to ask the MDB to defend, that have synergy with what we defend? Is this coexistence possible with the party that is integrating the base with positions within the federal government? These are discussions that need to be held within the PSDB and they start now”, evaluated Leite.