PSDB may join the Melo government base in the Capital

Diego Nuñez and Nikelly Souza

PSDB and MDB already make up the state government and are getting closer politically in the capital of Rio Grande do Sul. After supporting Onyx Lorenzoni (PL) in the elections for the Piratini Palace last year, in a dispute against the toucans and going against the party itself, which had vice-governor Gabriel Souza as a candidate, the mayor of Porto Alegre, Sebastião Melo (MDB ), is now trying to attract the PSDB to the City Hall.

Talks between the two parties had already started some time ago, but were hampered by the electoral conflict. The MDB already split during the pre-campaign and several cadres of the party itself supported the opposing ticket. The deputy governor himself defined the differences as party infidelity.

Two and a half months after the October 2022 elections, the internal tension in the party seems to have cooled down. “Mayor Melo, after the election, has been making gestures and formally speaking with the leader of the bench in the City Council, Gilson Padeiro, and with me. He says that every year it is normal to have some reforms, modifications, oxygenation and he would like to with the PSDB (in government), to help in areas that need oxygenation”, said the municipal president of the party in the Capital, Moisés Barboza.

“The party’s executive, which has the task of evaluating these issues, and the bench (in the Legislature) held a meeting. The climate was mostly favorable. So let’s move forward in the conversation. I told the mayor to invite the leadership and the bench of the party to say which are these places where he needs help so that we can see which technical and political leaders can be useful to the city”, reported Barboza.

The leader of the toucan bench in the Porto Alegre parliament, Gilson Padeiro (PSDB), confirmed that the party was invited by the Executive to compose the government. According to the parliamentarian, the forecast is that the issue will be defined later this week, but he added that the tendency is for the PSDB to join the Melo government. “We had previously been invited to join a secretariat, but we declined. Now the invitation has appeared again and we are evaluating”.

The toucan bench should meet this Wednesday (18) to evaluate the mayor’s invitation, in a meeting that may already bring a definition. “Tomorrow (today) we will meet to define”, said Marcelo Bernardi (PSDB), an alternate councilor who will take over a seat in the Chamber in February.

Barboza defends that the disputes arising from the election be left behind. Last year, he was considered to take over Urban Mobility. Asked if he would now assume a position in the secretariat, he ruled it out. He is focused on leading the PSDB in the capital and forming new leaders for the party.