Cláudio Couto: From Boulos to Meirelles, Lula forms a broad coalition to govern the country.
FGV professor lists three positive aspects of the alliance with Marina Silva: breadth, environmental issues, and dialogue with evangelicals.
247 - In an interview with TV 247, professor and political scientist Cláudio Couto highlighted the importance of the support from former minister Marina Silva (Rede) in the final stretch of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's (PT) campaign. According to Couto, regardless of Marina's poor performance in the 2018 presidential election, her political representation is strong, as in 2010 and 2014 she managed to garner, according to the scientist, 20% of the valid votes.
“Marina had two very strong showings in the election, with a significant vote count. Furthermore, Marina is expanding Lula's message, just like Alckmin, who also didn't have a remarkable performance in the last election. Marina shows that Lula is building a broad coalition to govern the country in a process of national reconstruction, considering the Bolsonaro-led destruction of the State and of Brazilian democracy itself,” he explains.
Couto points out that another positive aspect is strengthening the foundations – should Lula win the election – which will be fundamental for rebuilding the country.
“The democratic front needs to resist the threats that Bolsonarism poses to democracy and, consequently, requires the support of different sectors of the political class and the ideological political spectrum. Marina also brings the benefit that Lula is also signaling to the center-left, to people with a strong environmental concern. Marina was not only a member of the PT for a long period of years and, therefore, had a very close relationship with Lula, she was close to Chico Mendes, and she was also the first minister that Lula appointed in his first government, with an impact on the environmental and international message,” she points out.
As an evangelical Christian, Marina Silva has always made her convictions clear and will be a very important interlocutor for Lula's candidacy in engaging with the evangelical electorate.
"She has a very firm stance on her religious convictions and, above all, doesn't mix things up: public policy with religious orientation. This, in fact, should be the discourse of any democratic and progressive candidate when speaking to evangelicals: that the government and the State will not be at the service of a religious denomination or engaging in religious proselytism, but will have a relationship of respect and dialogue with all religious orientations," he concluded.
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