Tucanos support Nunes, and PSDB-SP president rejects it – 03/19/2024 – Power

PSDB activists in São Paulo met this Tuesday (19) to publish a manifesto in support of the re-election of Mayor Ricardo Nunes (MDB), who was Bruno Covas’s (PSDB) vice-president. Nunes already has the support of the PSDB bench of councilors and state deputies in São Paulo.

The party, however, surrounded by crises and divisions, has not made a decision regarding its direction in the municipal election just over six months before the election. Today, the party’s eight councilors threaten to leave the PSDB in the party window.

Since the end of February, the PSDB municipal directory has been commanded by former senator José Aníbal following a decision by the national executive, chaired by Marconi Perillo. Former municipal president Fernando Alfredo, who held a convention to be re-elected, but the vote was not recognized by the party, was the one who organized this Tuesday’s event in support of Nunes.

The event was attended by tucano secretaries from the Nunes administration, such as Fernando Padula (Education), Fabrício Cobra (Civil House), Carlos Bezerra (Social Development) and Marcos Gadelho (Urbanism and Licensing), as well as councilors, state deputy Barros Munhoz , by state executive secretary Marcos Penido. Bruno Covas’ son, Tomás Covas, also attended.

Aníbal told the newspaper O Globo that the PSDB is asking for Nunes’ vice-president in exchange for support and that the mayor’s alliance with Jair Bolsonaro (PL), whom he called a coup plotter, embarrasses the party. According to him, the possibility of the PSDB joining forces with Bolsonaro is ruled out.

In a statement, Aníbal stated that he sought out MDB leaders to present the proposal that the PSDB nominate the vice-president on Nunes’ ticket. “In the first meeting with Mayor Ricardo Nunes and the national president of the MDB, deputy Baleia Rossi, on March 4, it was clear that the PSDB would not nominate the vice president,” he declared.

“Without this condition and with the notorious negotiation that the MDB is carrying out with Bolsonaro for the nomination of vice-president, the PSDB cannot be part of the majority candidacy”, he continues.

“About today’s meeting, we hope that PSDB activists will reinforce the proposal of the provisional executive, supported by the national leadership, with the aim of maintaining the PSDB in a prominent position in the municipal political scenario”, added Aníbal.

Fernando Alfredo, however, says that the party missed the time to participate in the decision-making process for Nunes’ vice president, given the changes in leadership.

For the wing linked to Aníbal, tucanos defend support for Nunes because of the party’s positions in management. At this Tuesday’s meeting, a number of city hall employees were present.

Pro-Nunes toucans accuse the current leadership of the PSDB of leaning in favor of deputy Tabata Amaral (PSB), who seeks an alliance with the party. Orlando Faria, who was president of the PSDB in the capital before Aníbal, joined the deputy’s pre-campaign.

Part of the tucanato in São Paulo admits that the PSDB no longer has the size to demand Nunes’ vice-president, which should put an end to Bolsonaro’s PL – the party with the largest electoral fund and TV time among those who support the mayor.

Perillo’s orientation is that the PSDB has its own candidate in the country’s main cities, which includes São Paulo, as a way of promoting the party, which wants to launch governor Eduardo Leite (RS) for the Presidency of the Republic in 2026. In the capital São Paulo, however, the party does not have competitive names to take to the polls.

This Tuesday, in front of an auditorium full of toucans in the center of São Paulo, Fernando Alfredo stated that “commitment in politics is fulfilled no matter who it hurts” and criticized what he called the “personalist politics” of some.

Tomás Covas stated that Nunes continued his father’s management and that he was “very loyal”. “There would be no other option for the PSDB and the activists other than this year to be with Ricardo Nunes in his re-election,” he said.

“We can’t let PSDB from another state, which comes from abroad, take the lead here in São Paulo”, criticized Tomás.

“My father made the smart decision to personally choose Mayor Ricardo Nunes as his deputy, this proved to be the right choice shortly after his death. […] Of course there were changes in the secretariat, but if my father had been mayor there would have been changes too, changes are natural”, he added.

The pro-Nunes manifesto says that the mayor has part of the PSDB’s DNA and that the party “has always fought the left, especially the radical, extremist left.” The text admits that the party suffers from a “momentary lack of competitiveness”.

“While PSOL, by origin, has ties with the extreme radical left, we in the PSDB who believe in the strength of democracy will continue with Ricardo Nunes, a centrist politician who honors commitments”, he states.

In his speech, Padula listed the achievements of the Nunes administration and highlighted that it fulfills Covas’ government plan.

“We cannot accept an order from Brasília to be fulfilled in São Paulo,” said councilor Gilson Barreto.

Wilson Pedroso, who was Covas’ campaign coordinator in 2020, stated that he wanted to send a message to the tucanos who do not support Nunes.

“Don’t give me false narratives, don’t hide behind getting closer to Bolsonaro and the PSB candidacy,” he said, remembering that the PSDB’s opponent has always been the PT.

Pedroso stated that, in 2018, when João Doria allied himself with Bolsonaro, “Bruno Covas did not applaud, but respected, because he understood the political moment that was necessary to win.”

He also said that the PL has supported the PSDB for years in city hall, while Tabata “turned his back on Covas in 2020 and supported Boulos”.

Jorge Damião, founder of the PSDB and one of the organizers of the event, stated, at the opening, that the objective of the activism was to claim “respect for internal democracy” which had suffered “successive blows”.

“We are at rock bottom”, said Barros Munhoz, drawing laughter from the audience. “We cannot therefore say that we have to have our own candidacy, we have to have humility. […] Let’s make the PSDB return to what it was.”

The imbroglio in the PSDB extends to the state level, in which Perillo also intervened to appoint the mayor of Santo André, Paulo Serra, as president of the São Paulo directory on the 13th. The crises in the party led to the disaffiliation of former governor Rodrigo Garcia in this month.