War and strike impose a reality check on Boulos – 10/09/2023 – Power

Two crises in recent days have exposed challenges for Guilherme Boulos (PSOL) in his attempt to articulate a left-wing candidacy with the support of the PT and format a profile of moderation and dialogue to face rivals such as Ricardo Nunes (MDB) in the dispute for Mayor from Sao Paulo.

The federal deputy and leader of the MTST (Homeless Workers Movement) was the target of an offensive because of the strike against the privatization of transport and Sabesp, last week, and because of his position after the attacks by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas to Israel.

A statement about the conflict in which he failed to name the extremist faction cost Boulos the participation in his candidacy of former state secretary of Health Jean Gorinchteyn. João Doria’s (PSDB) former assistant announced his departure from coordinating the health area of ​​the future government plan.

Gorinchteyn was one of Boulos’ trump cards in the strategy of painting himself as a politician open to approaching other sectors to counter the radical and extremist labels attributed to him by Nunes and allies of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), whose mayor expect support.

The PSOL pre-candidate has reiterated left-wing positions historically defended by him, but avoided engaging in arguments on social media with detractors who want to wear him down. At the same time, he points out the dissemination of fake news against him, especially in the case of the war in the Middle East.

The wave of criticism has united supporters of Nunes, Bolsonaro supporters and members of the Novo party, in addition to the MBL (Movimento Brasil Livre), which is trying to promote the candidacy of Kim Kataguiri (União Brasil-SP). The right wants to harass him to prevent a victory for Lula (PT), guarantor of the psolista’s candidacy.

Boulos should bring together in the coalition, in addition to the president’s party, other acronyms from the so-called progressive camp, such as PC do B, PV and Rede. The deputy leads the Datafolha survey with 32% of voting intentions (compared to 24% for Nunes, second place) and has been traveling around the city to listen to the population.

After the Hamas attacks, right-wing profiles rescued a photo of a visit by Boulos to the West Bank in 2018, insinuating a relationship between him and his party and Hamas. The pre-candidate said it was fake news, and allies told the Panel column that the distortion may have had an effect on Gorinchteyn.

The image shows Boulos and the national president of PSOL, Juliano Medeiros, next to a stone with the inscription “PSOL with Palestine” in English. The content was shared by Bolsonaro supporters such as Eduardo Bolsonaro (SP), Nikolas Ferreira (MG), Carlos Jordy (RJ), all PL deputies.

After the broadcast, Boulos went on a social network to say that his defense of the rights of the Palestinian people “is public”, but that Bolsonaro supporters are using images from the trip to spread fake news.

“I bluntly condemn violent attacks on civilians, like those that killed 250 Israelis and 232 Palestinians in the last few hours,” he posted on Sunday (8). “I defend a peaceful and lasting solution, which involves compliance with international law and peace resolutions.”

The lack of mention of Hamas was also criticized in Lula’s position on the conflict.

Gorinchteyn, who is Jewish and supports Israel, made the decision to leave the group that would prepare Boulos’ proposals for health “in light of the pro-Palestinian stance that does not mention or condemn the armed Islamic extremist group Hamas for the terrorist attacks in Israel.”

The infectious disease doctor stood out in managing the Covid-19 pandemic in the state during the Doria administration. Before the breakup, he publicly praised the psolist and told the Sheet that he was showing himself to be “a very mature figure, with a very different profile from what he presented years ago”.

According to an interlocutor of the pre-candidate, the departure was not traumatic, but the team regretted Gorinchteyn’s departure.

Amid the bombings, Boulos reposted a message from Professor Michel Gherman, academic advisor at the Brazil-Israel Institute, on the social network X (formerly Twitter). The expert wrote that the politician approached him at the time of the 2018 trip and said that he would also like to go to Israel on that occasion.

Gherman published a photo of the politician at Yad Vashem, a memorial in Israel in honor of the victims of the Holocaust, said that the Brazilian had conversations with left-wing Jewish youth movements and highlighted that “he was pressured not to go and insisted on making the visits” .

Boulos thanked the academic “for his honest stance and commitment to the facts” and said it was “regrettable that they use a dramatic moment like this to feed fake news”.

The controversy over Hamas comes days after Boulos was accused of his stance in favor of the strike that paralyzed part of train transport in the capital.

The presence of members of PSOL and PC do B in charge of the strike served as ammunition for Nunes and governor Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), who signaled support for the re-election of the emedebista and spoke of political motivation in the movement.

The São Paulo Metro Workers Union is chaired by Camila Lisboa, who is affiliated with PSOL. Boulos’ allies refuted the insinuation of collusion, saying that the union has independence from the party and that it is absurd to assume that the deputy has responsibility for the mobilization.

The pre-candidate is against the privatizations desired by Tarcísio and said that the governor and mayor partisanized the debate. On the day of the strike, he highlighted problems in privatized lines, while rivals said that the disruptions were a demonstration of what could happen if he is elected.

Those around Nunes considered both episodes as negative for Boulos and assessed that the situations contributed spontaneously to the psolist’s convictions coming to the surface. The analysis is that ideological agendas will create difficulties for him to convince voters outside the left.

The deputy’s team is betting on a balanced discourse to overcome resistance, trying to deconstruct stereotypes and carrying out the tactic of associating Nunes with Bolsonaro, due to the rejection of the former president in the capital — 68% of residents would not vote for someone nominated by him, according to Datafolha.

Another guideline that will be maintained by Boulos is to remain faithful to his ideological principles, emphasizing that this cannot be confused with intransigence nor does it invalidate the willingness to dialogue with different segments. Aides say that the fierce debate in the virtual environment is far from real life.

In the PT, the behind-the-scenes assessment is that the party did not engage in the public defense of Boulos in both cases and it will be necessary to decide on a joint strategy as the election approaches. The understanding is that he will have to be cautious to expand his electorate without offending the base further to the left.