Tucano support for Nunes is uncertain amid criticism – 04/27/2023 – Politics

São Paulo mayor Ricardo Nunes (MDB), who articulates support to try to be re-elected in 2024, faces criticism from PSDB wings for distancing himself from the style of Bruno Covas (PSDB) and nods to Bolsonarism.

Nunes took over after Covas, elected as head of the ticket, died of cancer in 2021. The former mayor’s party is divided between embarking on Nunes’s candidacy right now or considering alternatives.

Part of the annoyance is due to Nunes’ nods to the Bolsonarist group, which contradicts the stance of Covas, who always opposed the ex-president’s authoritarianism and had a more progressive position.

At this time, Nunes is trying to tie the support of Jair Bolsonaro’s PL to his re-election, but the party is considering launching Bolsonarist Ricardo Salles (PL).

Last year, the mayor declared support for Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans) without making the same explicit in relation to Bolsonaro, but opposed the election of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) in the second round.

In addition to having lost political space, those around Covas who are now critical of Nunes consider that the successor demonstrates low commitment to the toucan’s banners, such as unconditional respect for democracy, and that he is moving in a different direction from that of the former mayor.

Nunes has made exchanges that fuel distrust of changing paths. Duda Lima, a marketer who ran Bolsonaro’s TV campaign in 2022, should head the mayor’s campaign in place of Felipe Soutello, who ran the Covas campaign.

Bolsonarist José Trabulho, a trusted man of former minister Ciro Nogueira (PP-PI), was appointed to work as chief of staff at the city’s Communications Secretariat.

Of the group loyal to Covas, Fernando Padula (Education), Ricardo Torres (Finance) and Gustavo Garcia Pires (SPTuris), among others, still remain in the city hall, although there have been changes in posts.

Others, such as Orlando Faria (former Secretary of Housing) and Alê Youssef (former Secretary of Culture), left their positions, as well as several deputy mayors and heads of public companies.

For Faria, Nunes has been moving away from the line adopted by Covas, both due to the change of names and the program —recently, a change was made to the plan of goals, in which, for example, promises to implement corridors and bus terminals were replaced by just “enable”.

“I think he left the line that Bruno had been putting, a little more progressive from an ideological point of view”, says Faria, who was a friend of Covas and today is part of the group allied with Eduardo Leite, national president of the PSDB .

The emedebista is described by covistas as someone without a long-term vision for the city, not open to incorporating progressive agendas for fear of displeasing the conservative electorate and with less ability to dialogue with opposition forces.

Among the points that bother the group are the policy for the street population and the violent dispersal of drug users through the center of São Paulo.

On Twitter, Alê Youssef scathingly criticized Nunes. “The crisis in the center of SP is humanitarian, as human beings are not treated with dignity; public security, as there is territorial occupation by crime; and structural, as its public and private spaces are detonated, without maintenance. There is no management. No there is a project”, he wrote.

On the other hand, Nunes maintains the support of the PSDB municipal directory and the toucan councilors’ bench, which occupies the secretariat of Assistance and Social Development with the indication of Carlos Bezerra Júnior for the post.

“Today our commitment is to Ricardo Nunes, because he is the great bastion of the legacy of Bruno Covas”, says the president of the PSDB in São Paulo, Fernando Alfredo. “And all support for a center candidacy is welcome”, he adds.

The mayor’s Toucan allies minimize criticism of Nunes, stating that they are restricted to those who lost their positions. In the view of this group, Nunes has preserved the commitments signed with Covas, maintained the spaces of the PSDB in the administration and did not promote ideological shifts.

Nunes assistants also say that the relationship between the representative and the group of secretaries linked to Covas is good, but they consider that the mayor feels his autonomy is hampered by having been elected as deputy – that is, he is not at the forefront of a project that be yours.

The possibility of PSDB support for Nunes passes, however, through the discussion of the candidate for deputy mayor on the ticket – a position that toucans want to occupy arguing that the gesture would show respect and gratitude to Covas.

Toucans also take into account, when defending alignment with the mayor, the lack of options among their cadres for their own candidacy. They also consider that, with Salles on one side and Guilherme Boulos (PSOL) on the other, Nunes’ candidacy should represent the center field.

Former governor Rodrigo Garcia (PSDB) was with Nunes and signaled his support, despite being suggested as a possible candidate for the mayoralty. Part of the toucanato does not even consider this hypothesis, considering that Rodrigo’s departure from the party is a matter of time.

Asked by the report about support for Nunes’ re-election, the president of the São Paulo PSDB, Marco Vinholi, said that the issue will still be discussed internally, including within the federation with Cidadania.

“My position is that we are going to, coherently with our history and with the political field in which we operate, build our path through party democracy, in order to strengthen the Brazilian democratic center.”

The approach of the national directory, headed by Leite, is to wait – above all because there will be elections for the party’s leadership at municipal and state level by the end of the year and, therefore, the discussion on the 2024 election can be done with another dome.

The PSDB defined that, in cities with more than 200 thousand inhabitants, the national directory will have the last word in relation to the party’s position in the municipal election. In the case of São Paulo, the toucans consider it essential that the party, which is opposed to Lula, help to avoid a Boulos victory.

Politicians who follow the conversations say behind the scenes that Orlando Faria has Leite’s endorsement to find solutions in the São Paulo capital that help reposition the party’s image. And that these paths will hardly pass through an alliance with Nunes.

A Sheet Faria defended that the party has its own candidate. “The PSDB has a new national leadership that intends to present a country project to Brazil. This country project goes through the municipal elections and it makes no sense for the PSDB not to have its own candidacy in the capitals, mainly in São Paulo.”

Members of the national executive also claim that for Leite’s presidential project it would be interesting to have a candidate in the main cities, but each case will be analyzed within the local reality.

The toucan wing that resists the idea of ​​maintaining support for Nunes works with alternatives, such as a composition with federal deputy Tabata Amaral (PSB).