Zema grows to 2026, and spotlight exposes stumbling blocks – 07/15/2023 – Politics

With Jair Bolsonaro (PL) ineligible and the recent malaise between Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans) and Bolsonarism, the spotlight that fell on the governor of Minas Gerais, Romeu Zema (Novo), illuminated not only his presidential articulation in the field of right as a series of stumbles.

In addition to sharing a sentence by Benito Mussolini and his government, comparing the Inconfidência Mineira to a coup, Zema stated that the states of the South and Southeast have “a much greater proportion of people working than living on emergency aid” and that only these states “can help make this country work”.

The governor of Minas has shown an appetite for higher flights, not only because he has seen his chances of engaging in a presidential candidacy grow with Bolsonaro’s departure from the race, but also because he can no longer run for re-election, as he is in his second term.

In recent weeks, Zema has intensified trips to other capitals and meetings with leaders of different parties, but his assistants deny that there is a movement aimed at the 2026 election and say that the contacts were related to Tax Reform and the sewing of support in the Legislative Assembly.

The governor, like Tarcísio, has avoided appearing in the electoral arena so early, in a strategy of self-preservation. “I’d rather support someone than be a candidate,” he told GloboNews on Wednesday (12).

Allies of the miner claim that his focus is on making a good government and that he is not working for his candidacy. “You can’t think ahead if Minas doesn’t work out. There’s no future if we don’t make a good present”, summarizes Marcelo Aro (PP), secretary of the Civil House.

At the same time, Zema defends a unity of governors and center-right parties —such as Novo, PP, PL, União Brasil, Republicanos and Podemos— as a strategy to defeat the PT in 2026.

“It has some premises that are clear: if we want the center-right to reach the Presidency, it is necessary that the governors of that line be together”, says the deputy governor of Minas, Mateus Simões (Novo). “These governors have been meeting in a logic of forming a front in defense of certain agendas and resistance to certain projects.”

He mentions, in addition to Zema and Tarcísio, Ratinho Jr. (PSD-PR), Cláudio Castro (PL-RJ), Ronaldo Caiado (União Brasil-GO), Jorginho Mello (PL-SC) and Mauro Mendes (União Brasil-MT).

Aro claims that the union of governors provided by Cosud (South and Southeast Integration Consortium) serves as the “backbone” for 2026. “We are not allies of the federal government in the ideological agenda”, summarizes the secretary about the Lula (PT) administration.

Zema’s series of gaffes, which also include a math error in a live interview, is downplayed by the governor’s allies. Simões claims that the leader’s authenticity and spontaneity, often seen as weaknesses, are “a strength” in the electoral environment.

“While this takes some work to explain or for people to eventually judge, it gives people a sense of real people. He doesn’t look like a packaged politician,” he says.

The deputy admits that the exaltation of the South and Southeast tends to alienate voters from the rest of the country and is harmful in the context of a presidential election, but justifies that the lines have to do with the specific moment of clash between states over the Tax Reform .

“It doesn’t seem like a good speech for the election moment, but we can’t give up buying open discussions in the present because of future electoral expectations. If not, Zema might even make a figure [ficar bem] with the North and Northeast, but sacrifices the future of Minas Gerais”, completes Simões.

Aro also sees in Zema’s controversial speeches a division between management and the election — and defends the governor. “It’s evidence that he hasn’t been thinking night and day about 2026. Many lines are misinterpreted, a leftist narrative has been created as if he had attacked the northeastern people.”

National political actors who are eager for a moderate right-wing option for 2026 see mistakes in Zema’s first steps to secure himself as a presidential candidate, but speak in enough time to correct the course and remember that, at least, the exposure of the miner has grown.

Behind the scenes, there are harsh criticisms of the speeches in which the governor compared the regions of Brazil and made stereotyped comments about government aid and residents from outside the Southeast and South. The assessment is that this goes against what should be done to achieve projection throughout the country.

As shown to Sheetright-wing and center forces working to recycle the segment after Bolsonaro’s ineligibility say that governors who aspire to the post need to nationalize.

Among those who minimize the negative impacts of slips, there are those who consider that Zema has intentionally polemical at times, so that his name reverberates beyond the limits of Minas, and that the gaffes will be forgotten if he seeks a more conciliatory tone.

At the same time, however, wear and tear related to management is accumulating. The governor was criticized for investing BRL 41.7 million to renovate a road that connects Araxá (MG), the city where Zema was born, to his family’s farm in the city of Rifaina (SP), on the border between the two states.

Speaking on anonymity, politicians who bet on the miner as a presidential or vice candidate say they doubt that he will choose a divisive path, since moving forward with a national project will depend exactly on agglutinating names, which demands compositions across the country.

In a more realistic key, one hears in private conversations the consideration that perhaps the governor still has a long way to go to reach the stature of candidate for the Planalto. Advice ranges from professionalizing your pre-campaign to surrounding yourself with experienced advisors.

One of the observers says that it is necessary to avoid gestures that border on irresponsibility, such as the insinuation about Lula’s “turning a blind eye” to the coup acts of January 8th. Zema spoke of a supposed support for the government so that “the worst” would happen and, with that, he could victimize himself to raise solidarity.

Another reasoning is that part of Zema’s gestures are intended to bring him closer to the Bolsonarist base, at a time when the ex-president’s estate is disputed. The movement carries a risk, since the most radical portion of the right is important at the polls, but also pushes away moderates.

In comparison with Tarcísio, the man from Minas Gerais has been celebrated by the pro-Bolsonaro militancy as being more faithful to the values ​​and flags of the segment. Zema collects incisive positions against Lula and the left and openly attacks, for example, the MST (Movement of Landless Rural Workers).

Zema accumulates controversies, gaffes and weariness

Literature
The governor asked during an interview whether Adélia Prado, a famous poet from Minas Gerais, was a radio employee, when she received a book by the author as a gift from the presenter, in February. Seeing her name, he asked if she worked for the company.

Mathematics
Zema got confused, during an interview this month, when talking about votes in the Chamber of Deputies and saying that half of 513 is 561. “My math here in my head is failing”, he said, who at the end of the conversation corrected himself and did the right calculation

Geography 1
The miner released in June two lines considered prejudiced. He said that the states of the South and Southeast are different because they have a greater proportion of people working than living on emergency aid. Days later, he said that only these states “can contribute for this country to succeed”

Geography 2
In June, the decision of the Government of Minas Gerais to invest R$ 41.7 million was announced to renovate a road that connects Araxá (MG), the city where Zema was born, to his family’s farm in the city of Rifaina (SP), in the boundary between the two states. Management said it was based on technical criteria

Story 1
Zema posted, after Bolsonaro became ineligible, a sentence attributed to the Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini: “We were the first to state that the more complex civilization becomes, the more the freedom of the individual must be restricted”. Then he said it was a bureaucracy alert

Story 2
In a text in April, to commemorate the Inconfidência Mineira, the government called the movement against the Portuguese crown a “coup” and stated that Tiradentes was the only inconfidente to confess to “crimes”. After the negative repercussion of the text, the word “crimes” was replaced by “acts”

Interpretation
Zema stated that the federal government turned a “blind eye” to attacks by Bolsonaristas on January 8 in Brasília. “There was a mistake, perhaps even deliberate, by the federal government, which turned a blind eye to the worst happening and it later made itself the victim”, he declared to Rádio Gaúcha.